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B.O.T. (episode)

2014-04-27T10:53:37Z

JudgeDeadd: /* Animation or technical errors */

{{featured}}
{{disambig2|the worst episode of Transformers ever|the titular character of the worst episode ever|B.O.T. (robot)}}
{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=65
|next=The Transformers: The Movie
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=59
|prev2=Neverending Struggle
|next2=War Dawn (episode)
|series3=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=44
|prev3=The Ultimate Doom, Part 3
|next3=Aerial Assault
|image=B.O.T.jpg
|caption=Smarter than a race of multimillion-year-old robots. ''Using Brawl's brain.''
|title="B.O.T."
|production code=#700-64
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|airdate=[[January 9]], 1986
|written by=[[Earl Kress]]
|animation studio=[[Unknown Filipino animation studio]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''After Swindle sells the components of his fellow Combaticons, three kids get their hands on Brawl's brain, using it to make a robot.'''

Or...

'''Worst. Episode. Ever.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:BOT-Road.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Here we come…drivin' down the street…]]
The [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]] enter an unidentified city for no discernible reason, then all transform to vehicle mode for no discernible reason. While transforming, [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] knocks over [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]] for no discernible reason. Brawl expresses his displeasure for an obvious reason. They then drive (yes, even [[Vortex (G1)|the]] [[Blast Off (G1)|flyers]] ''drive'') about ten feet down the street and form [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]] for no discernible reason. He is immediately destroyed with a single shot by [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] (who's there for no discernible reason). Defensor just leaves the pile of parts alone and unsupervised, apparently not bothering to alert the other [[Autobot]]s or anything. This enables Swindle—who has somehow survived ''without a scratch'' the explosion that reduced all the other Combaticons to a pile of parts — to gather up the bits. No human authorities are involved either.

Swindle then visits the generically evil foreign guy "[[El Presidente]]" on his ship filled with weapons in order to buy parts to repair the Combaticons.

Meanwhile, [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] is running a simulation of his new [[orbit disruptor cannon]]. After [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] whines, Megatron explains that once the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]] is knocked from orbit, they will use [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]]'s new device to control the tides. They will then use this colossal power to flood a single canyon, creating "a limitless source of power". What?

At the [[Combaticons' headquarters]], El Presidente's men load up the weapons and more advanced computer systems from the wrecked robots, as apparently Swindle forgot about that whole "repair" thing. Swindle then leaves to take the remaining parts to a dump. Shortly after they all leave, [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] arrives, noting no one seems to be home. He discovers a piece of one of the Combaticons, then notices there's a trail of them. Confused, he asks Megatron what to do. Megatron calmly replies that he should perchance follow the trail of wreckage in order to discover where it may lead.

[[Image:BOT-Luigi.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Giant turtles out to get him, creepy crabs are right behind.]]

Swindle arrives in a junkyard, where he threatens a junkyard worker before he starts to dump the leftovers. Starscream and Skywarp discover him in the act and capture him as he tries to escape. Back at the [[Decepticon Headquarters (G1 Earth)|Decepticon base]], Soundwave installs a bomb in Swindle's head; he has 15 hours to reassemble the Combaticons before it goes off. Swindle takes the parts back from various mid-'80s evil foreign stereotypes and reassembles the team. However, they are unable to combine into Bruticus because Brawl's [[personality component]] is missing. Swindle is charged with getting the component back or the bomb will still go off.

Meanwhile, at [[Benjamin Franklin Pierce High School]], [[Robbins|Mr. Robbins]]'s demonstration of a laser is sabotaged by two sociopathic students, [[Martin and Roland]], who boost the laser's power output so high it instantly burns a hole through steel. Rather than involve the authorities, Mr. Robbins threatens them with an "F" in his class if they don't win a blue ribbon at the science fair, and assigns [[Elise Presser]] to assist them for no discernible reason.

Outside, the two assholes meet the meek and spineless Elise. They realize a high-rise is on fire across the street, and witness the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]] coming to the rescue (well, four of them; [[Blades (G1)|Blades]] cuts the cables holding a rig two window-washers are on with his rotors—the bastard). This inspires them to build a robot for their project. The three rummage for parts in the same junkyard where Swindle dumped the Combaticons' leftover remains, and Elise discovers a random piece of machinery. They spend the night in the school's lab assembling their machine, and Martin dubs it "[[B.O.T. (robot)|B.O.T.]]". After several failures, Elise installs the random piece of machinery, which turns out to be Brawl's personality component. Naturally, Brawl-B.O.T. goes postal and starts trashing the place.

[[Image:BOT-CompRoom.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Unbeknownst to all, the school was secretly funded by a hideously gargantuan Richie Rich.]]

Martin grabs the laser and fires, and B.O.T. runs off. The kids run to the school's preposterously-advanced computer lab, and use it to call the Protectobots. [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] gets the SOS, and [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] sends [[Gears (G1)|Gears]], [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] and [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] to investigate.

Swindle re-threatens the junkyard worker, who says that maybe some kids took the part Swindle is after. Swindle mutters "you better hope so"… then proceeds to rummage through the trash, seemingly instantly forgetting that whole "kids" angle.

The [[Autobot]]s arrive at the school. The kids seem disappointed that they didn't get the Protectobots, but quickly lead them to their runaway creation in the school's cafeteria. Brawl-B.O.T. knocks all three Autobots over with a single serving pan of corn on the cob (That high-school food, I tell ya, huh? Huh?), then deflects Gears's blaster-fire with a pot lid. Ironhide shoots molten lead at Brawl-B.O.T., but he leaps to grab a light fixture, avoiding the attack, and the now-weakened floor collapses under Ironhide. Brawl-B.O.T. runs for it, barricading the door out with remarkable speed, and heads for a seemingly abandoned building… as Swindle watches.

The Autobots follow, telling the kids to stay put. They enter the building, and find that Brawl-B.O.T. has taken an elevator thirty floors up. Ironhide wedges a stick into the doors, and the trio run up the stairs. Outside, the future serial killers grow instantly impatient, and drag Elise inside the building. They remove the stick, enter the elevator and head up.

A blast erupts ''behind'' the Autobots, and Ironhide orders them to shoot up. They shoot at absolutely ''nothing'', Ironhide declares they hit whatever it was, and they run right into Swindle. Meanwhile, the elevator has stopped. Roland is lifted up so he can open the emergency hatch, and discovers B.O.T. is trying to break the elevator cables.

[[File:BOT Defensor forcefield.jpg|thumb|right|200px|My force field's only good for 10 seconds - you've got a plan for after that, right Prime? ...Prime?]]

Sadly, B.O.T. is prevented from snapping the cables by an energy blast to the back. The Autobots pick themselves up, seemingly having been soundly thrashed by Swindle all by himself. They all run outside to witness Swindle driving away. Back at Decepticon headquarters, Brawl is restored and the bomb removed, and Bruticus is formed again.

At the school, Elise inspects the remnants of B.O.T. to find that the "funny component" is gone. Martin decides to hunt it down by reworking the machine that read B.O.T.'s "brain response" so it can track the signal. The three drive to the ocean, and Elise rewires B.O.T.'s speech synthesizer so it receives and decodes signals rather than creating them, letting them hear what Brawl hears. Megatron insists on a test-run of the cannon, and picks Autobot headquarters as the target. (Because it's in orbit, you see. Wait, no, it isn't.) The kids rush off to warn the Autobots, who send a signal to the [[Protectobots' headquarters]].

Having been properly forewarned, the Autobots apparently just sit around and wait for Megatron to set up his giant cannon, get his troops into position just outside their base, and for the Combaticons to assemble Bruticus before starting to defend themselves. Bruticus basically stumbles around until he falls apart. The Protectobots arrive and random fighting ensues.

[[Image:Elisetape.jpg|left|200px|thumb|This is the light-hearted, end-of-episode comedy beat. No, seriously.]]

Inside the base, the kids think they need to help, and Elise has a rare moment of spine. Using Teletraan I, she sends B.O.T. out into the battlefield on a beeline to the disruptor cannon. The Protectobots combine into Defensor and generate a force field, protecting about four other Autobots. The Decepticons wait until the force field wears off, then one shot blasts Defensor to pieces. Bruticus re-forms and tries to fire the cannon, but it turns and blasts Starscream and Soundwave instead. B.O.T. is working the cannon using a conveniently-placed control panel at the base, and causes it to explode by hitting the clearly-marked "overload" button, sending Bruticus flying away and forcing a Decepticon retreat.

Back inside, the Autobots thank the kids for their help and offer their apologies for the loss of their robot. Elise asks if they have any spare parts so they can try again… and Roland and Martin duct-tape her mouth shut and drag her away while the Autobots just watch… ''argh argh argh''…
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] (7)
* [[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] (18)
* [[Groove (G1)|Groove]] (19)
* [[Hot Spot (G1)|Hot Spot]] (20)
* [[Blades (G1)|Blades]] (21)
* [[Streetwise (G1)|Streetwise]] (22)
* [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (24)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (25)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (26)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (27)
* [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (28)
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (29)
|c2=
* [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] (1)
* [[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]] (2)
* [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] (3)
* [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]] (4)
* [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] (5)
* [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]] (6)
* [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (9)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (10)
* [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (11)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (12)
* [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (13)
* [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (30)
* [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (31)
|c3=
* [[El Presidente]] (8)
* [[Robbins]] (14)
* [[Martin and Roland|Roland]] (15)
* [[Martin and Roland|Martin]] (16)
* [[Elise Presser]] (17)

|c4=
* [[B.O.T. (robot)|B.O.T.]] (23)
}}

==Quotes==
[[File:BOT Swindle grabbed.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Until you can tell me what you mean by "brain" and "head", even you can't be trusted.]]
"Call sanitation. There's junk all over the street!"
:—'''Defensor''', leaving his mess for the humans to clean up. He's humanity's defender, not their maid.

"Megatron, I-I-I couldn't find Brawl's personality component! I didn't think it would ''matter''…"
:—'''Swindle'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s high opinion of his teammate.

[[File:BOT wet Gears.jpg|thumb|right|200px|You are so right.]]
"Here, munch a little lead!"
:—'''Ironhide''' just before spraying something that's not lead at B.O.T.

"This is so degrading."
:—'''Gears''' on being beaten by Brawl-B.O.T. Or he was talking about the episode itself?

"We should've just taken the 'F' in Science."
:—'''Martin''', not knowing that if they did, we probably would have been spared this horrendous episode.

"If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I'll melt you down for scrap [[tutonium]]!"
:—'''Megatron''' threatens Swindle with gibberish

==Notes==
{{quote|The episode "B.O.T." was one I always remembered from when I was young. But the thing is, I had just remembered the story focusing on Swindle selling off the other Combaticons, and I had totally mentally blocked out the whole school science project part of the story! Wow was I disappointed when I went back and watched that one!|[[Derrick J. Wyatt]]<ref>[http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/interviews-27/derrick-wyatt-interview-166415/ ''Transformers Animated'' Art Director Derrick Wyatt interview at TFW2005.com]</ref>}}

===Animation or technical errors===
* Argh.
[[Image:BOT Bumblebee tries door.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Either Bumblebee's shrunk to the size of a human, or that's one humongous coffee pot on the counter to his left.]]
* The scenery in this episode is always ''huge''. In the opening scene, the five Combaticons are driving down a downtown street in a row (yes, ''even the fliers are driving on the ground'') with plenty of room. Humans are drawn tiny compared to the doors of their own buildings, and the Autobots fit easily inside human structures.
* The Combaticons get the wrong transformation sound effect (ascending pitch) when transforming to their vehicle modes.
* Swindle's vehicle mode is missing its Decepticon symbol as he gets stuck against Brawl.
* It's inherent to their color models, but the combination sequence makes it ''really obvious'' that Onslaught completely changes color from blue to white while transforming into Bruticus.
* The Bruticus scrap pile changes between shots; first it's a few scattered parts on the street, then it's a solid pile of them.
* Swindle pops out of the junk pile from beneath a yellow rectangle with wheels. The only yellow component on Bruticus is… Swindle.
* As Swindle drives past the guy with the radio on the docks, he's layered too far to the left and appears to be hovering above the road.
* When Swindle transforms to meet with El Presidente, his gun attaches to the side of his right arm. In the next shot, it's attached to the ''front'' of his arm (its usual, correct location.) Then in the next shot, it's on the ''left'' arm.
* In Megatron's simulation, Astrotrain is completely off-model - he's got no cockpit, his sides are purple instead of gray, he's got some kind of side vents that shouldn't be there, and his nosecone covers the entire front of his shuttle mode.
* Skywarp's voice is a bit off - much more nasally than usual.
* There is no indication as to what jet-mode Starscream uses to capture jeep-mode Swindle.
* Swindle's eyes aren't colored as he apologizes to the Russians. In the same shot, we suddenly hear the ticking-clock sound of the bomb in his head, when it has been silent till now. It will continue to pop up randomly until Swindle completes his mission.
* In the lineup shot of the Combaticons, Onslaught is the same height as everybody else, instead of being taller. Swindle's cannon is missing.
* When the teacher addresses Martin and Roland, his desk is visible behind him. The books that were on it - which were prominently burned through by the laser a moment earlier - have vanished.
* Roland's mouth moves when Martin says "Aw, come on" - especially noticeable since Roland then goes on to speak his own line in the same shot.
* The voice that says "Stay calm!" doesn't actually belong to any of the Protectobots. It might be a "non-finalized" First Aid, who otherwise hasn't spoken yet. Hot Spot's voice is likewise not the version that would be settled on in Season 3.
* While the kids are constructing B.O.T in the lab, Elise's glasses are clear instead of blue in one of the shots.
* Brawl's personality component changes design several times between shots. In its main establishing shot, it's drawn as some sort of real-world electrical monitoring device, complete with gauges and buttons.
* When Elise says "Maybe I wired the box in wrong," one of her legs is drawn way too short, almost as if she's missing her right thigh.
* When Mr. Robbins turned on the laser, it shot a continuous beam. When Martin uses it on B.O.T., it fires bolts.
* The first two times we see the Ark, it has two engines rather than three.
* The "SOS" Gears receives is written in numbers rather than letters and isn't aligned to match the angle of Teletraan I's screen. Also, Gears is sitting in a human-looking chair we've never seen before.
* After threatening the dude at the junkyard, Swindle turns to leave, walking toward... the fence. He starts to clear some junk out of his way, but then the scene ends and we never find out if he realizes he's not walking toward the exit.
* The kids create and lose B.O.T. in the middle of the night. When the Autobots reach the school, it's bright and sunny outside. If this ''isn't'' an animation error, then we are forced to assume that Brawl-B.O.T. spent several hours not doing much at all, staying inside the school the whole time, while the kids waited for the Autobots to arrive.
* Gears' mouth isn't moving for the end of his "hunk of junk" line.
* Ironhide towers over the door to the kitchen, yet he fits inside a moment later. Three Autobots fit in the stairwell of the condemned building.
* As he delivers the line, "Well if that don't fry my circuits," Ironhide's left shoulder is missing.
* As everyone runs out of the kitchen, Ironhide clips through the door frame.
[[File:BFPierce High School.jpg|thumb|right|200px| ]]
* The first shot of the front of the school shows it with two arches, but when the group chases after B.O.T., it's one big rectangular opening. On a similar note, Gears describes the high school as a "one-level structure", but it's pretty clearly two stories.
* The empty building is, presumably, the burnt-out skyscraper from before.... but it's totally changed its appearance when B.O.T. takes refuge in it.
* The elevator in the condemned building has two rows of lights above it, but in the close-ups there's only one row (with 12 lights, far fewer than the thirty needed for the number of floors Bumblebee says are in the building).
* The top of Ironhide's torso is all red as he runs up the stairs, and again as he gives the order to stop firing. Most of it should be gray. (The same error happens ''again'' at Autobot Headquarters when the kids warn the Autobots about the disruptor attack.)
* The "shooting at nothing upstairs" bit might be attributed to animation/script mismatch. The animation puts the Autobots in a circular staircase so they are plainly shooting at the clearly-lit curved wall directly ahead of them. It's ''possible'' the writer intended them to be shooting up a straight staircase into darkness… but that's pure conjecture.
* "Boost me up" - Martin (or Roland, who can tell)'s mouth isn't moving.
* Starscream has blue eyes (instead of red) as Brawl's brain is restored.
* Swindle's cannon is back on the side of his arm (instead of the front) as Megatron throttles him.
* When Swindle stumbles back alongside the other Combaticons, Onslaught's forehead is colored yellow, like his visor.
* After he forms in Decepticon Headquarters, Bruticus's nose is colored the same red as his eyes, giving the effect of a visor.
* During a close-up, Elise's red VW Beetle becomes Swindle-colored (including a purple hood!), then changes back and remains red through the rest of the scene.
* As Ironhide is contacting the Protectobots, he turns away from the screen, at which point the top of his shoulder suddenly turns partially red.
* When the Protectobots receive the signal, the lit-up part appears off to the side of the rest of the display.
[[File:BOT Protectobot HQ exterior.jpg|thumb|right|200px| ]]
* In a long, slow zoom-in on Protectobot headquarters, we have plenty of time to see that the front facade has a central hallway carved into it. Then when it lifts up for them to drive out, the entrance is a normal door.
* When the Combaticons combine at the beginning of the final battle, Vortex and Blast Off are [[Scramble City (toyline)|switched]].
* Optimus and the Autobots attack from a cliff, but a few seconds later Optimus is standing in front of the Ark.
* Wheeljack's [[gyro-inhibitor shell|gyro-inhibitor]] appears to fire out of the air next to his left ear. (Also, it's animated as some kind of energy wave instead of a shell-launched weapon; also also, it's not for shooting down missiles, but for destabilizing a robot's sense of balance.)
* It's not real clear who fired the missiles, either. Onslaught was the last guy we saw shooting, but he was shooting laser beams.
* When he takes on Starscream, Streetwise suddenly has a different, much deeper voice compared to the one he had last episode (and just a couple of scenes earlier!) The same voice delivers the line "Hot enough for you guys?" from off-screen, shortly before we cut to Hot Spot - so maybe that was supposed to be his voice... but it's not the same voice as ''his'' single line earlier in the episode, either.
* A wall appears behind Megatron and Soundwave as they face down Hot Spot in the middle of the desert.
* As Megatron transforms into gun mode, his shoulder rest appears and disappears - as does Soundwave's Decepticon symbol.
* Hot Spot's guns use the Decepticon laser sound effect.
* Hot Spot shoots Soundwave (carrying gun-mode Megatron), knocking him backwards into Brawl. In the next shot, Megatron transforms and lands nearby - and Brawl, who has already collapsed under Soundwave, comes flying in and lands on Megatron, with Soundwave nowhere to be seen.
* As the Protectobots transform to Defensor, a huge wave of energy is shown (for no real reason).
* Bruticus's gun disappears from his hand between shots as he runs to the cannon.
* As Megatron orders Bruticus to fire the disruptor, his waist controls are colored in reverse (blue on the left and red on the right). This is corrected a few seconds later.
* As B.O.T. gains control of the disruptor, Megatron is far to the right of the other Decepticons, but a few shots later Soundwave and Ramjet are right behind him.
* Just before Soundwave is hit, he randomly lifts his left leg in the air.
* When the kids are watching B.O.T. on Teletraan's screen, the disruptor is no longer pointing to the left as it was before, and B.O.T. - who is supposed to be working the controls ''behind'' it - is now visible in front of it.

===Continuity errors===
[[Image:Combaticon pyramid.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The Combaticons unveil their new routine as the Polyhex Cowbots cheerleaders.]]
[[File:BOT Orbit Disruptor Cannon.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Megatron? Did you just build ''[[Masquerade|yet another]]'' [[Fire on the Mountain|giant immobile cannon]]? Seriously dude?]]
[[Image:BOT-Overload.jpg|right|200px|thumb|"I assure you, there is zero chance of this coming back to bite us!"]]
* ''Argh''.
* In the opening scene, why didn't the Combaticons just combine into Bruticus right away, rather than transforming to vehicles, driving like down the street for like two seconds, and ''then'' combining?
* Did Defensor really not see Swindle struggling out of the wreckage right in front of him?
* Swindle goes to El Presidente to ''buy'' parts to repair the other Combaticons. The next time we see them, he's ''sold'' the Combaticon parts— for ''what'', we don't know. There is no explanation as to why he suddenly completely changed his plan.
* As much fuss as Megatron makes over how much he wants Bruticus back, he sure doesn't act like it:
** Why does Megatron put a bomb in Swindle's head? If it goes off, he loses Bruticus for good.
** Why does Megatron have ''only'' Swindle go looking for the lost personality component?
** Fifteen hours seems like an impossibly tight deadline to track down dozens or hundreds of parts scattered ''all over the world'' (including the Middle East and Russia), retrieve them, reassemble them into complex high-tech robots, AND still have time left over to track down Brawl-B.O.T.
* How did Swindle know ''exactly'' where to find each and every Combaticon component across the globe once he sold them to ''El Presidente''?
* Just because Brawl is out of commission, the Combaticons have to form a robot-pyramid before becoming Bruticus. Why can't the other four just float up to their correct spots, like usual?
* The kids don't seem to recognize what Transformers are, but by this point in the series, they're internationally recognized, there are [[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1|holidays]] and [[Optimus Prime memorial|tributes to them]], etc. Despite this, they seem to instantly accept the existence of Transformers.
* Superhuman Elise:
** When B.O.T. is first activated, Elise is forcefully flung off the ladder by its arm. Somehow, she lands with only a soft thud and no real injuries.
* The Autobots seem to initially not understand what a high school is. This is in spite of the fact that they have been on Earth for a couple of years now and are friends with 3 school-aged humans, at least two of which (Carly and Chip) we ''know'' have a formal education.
* How did Swindle get above the Autobots on the way up? And how'd he get past them on the way down again?
* "Only Defensor can stand against Bruticus," says Optimus Prime... apparently forgetting that [[Superion (G1)|Superion]] did quite well against him just a few episodes back. And there's [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], too.
* Why did the Autobots do nothing while the Decepticons set up a gigantic cannon right outside their headquarters? They don't pop up and start shooting until the cannon is in place and Bruticus is assembled.
* The Autobots basically ''give up'' trying to beat the Decepticons, choosing to hide behind Defensor's force field. When the force field gives out, it would have been game over for the 'bots, if it weren't for Elise and the psycho twins.
* It's never really specified why Megatron specifically needs Bruticus to fire the cannon. If it's a size thing, he also has [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] and [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]]. The size thing is debatable because the cannon has a human-scaled control panel on it. Oy.
* On that note, the human-level control panel has a great big button clearly marked "Over Load" in English. Why did he install that?
** No, really, why?
* The disruptor cannon is supposed to be powerful enough to obliterate Autobot Headquarters and ''knock Earth's moon out of its orbit''. When it hits several of the Decepticons, it just knocks them into the air.
* Bruticus didn't notice B.O.T. fiddling with the controls right there in front of him?
* This episode was made.

===The surreal world of "B.O.T."===
* '''''Argh'''''.
[[Image:BOT-ModelReuse.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Me an' my friends are Jem girls, especially Jimmy "The Legbreaker" Cianciulli!]]
[[Image:Elpresidente.jpg|thumb|200px|right|"The medals? This one is for being evil. This one is for having an accent. This one, for beard-growing. This one, a reward for having the most medals."]]
* Mr. Robbins's class is made up of a ''very'' odd collection of students. The ''least'' odd are the two women who are just recolored character models from ''[[Jem]]'', [[Hasbro]]'s then-current cartoon-advertised foray into girls' fashion dolls. Towards the back, however, appear to be [[Auto-Bop|thugs in business suits.]]
* The classroom itself appears to be ''huge'' in the initial shot. And why don't the desks have table tops? Only one girl is taking notes, holding a bunch of paper in her lap. There are no backpacks to be seen. And as Roland and Martin walk out, there's only an arch in front of them (with no actual ''doors'' attached to it!).
* The class, by the way, lasts for about two minutes before the bell rings.
* "El Presidente" apparently just holds court on a docked ship in a port somewhere, selling missiles to whoever walks in the door.
* The teens completely fail to notice a hundred-story building that is almost completely engulfed in flames and surrounded by emergency vehicles until they hear somebody fifty stories up call for help.
* Groove claims to use liquid nitrogen to put out the fire. Liquid nitrogen evaporates at -198 °C (-320 °F), so it would completely boil away the second it hits the atmosphere.<ref>[[wikipedia:Liquid nitrogen|Liquid nitrogen at Wikipedia]]</ref> On top of that, liquid nitrogen is not pink. (In fairness, virtually ''no'' episode of the cartoon portrayed this accurately - see also "[[Divide and Conquer]]", "[[Quest for Survival]]", and "[[Triple Takeover]]".)
* Streetwise catches the two falling window-washers with his ''metal'' arms after they've fallen about fifty stories, and somehow they're not splattered all over him. [[Prime Target (episode)|Remember, kids:]] [[A Plague of Insecticons|If anything besides the ground]] [[War Dawn (episode)|breaks your fall,]] [[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2|you'll be just fine!]]
* Three high school kids can build a walking, fully articulated robot out of junk bits and Brawl's brain ''overnight'' that is ''stronger'' and ''smarter'' than the Autobots. (The latter would be a little more believable if it weren't for the "Brawl's brain" part.)
* "B.O.T." stands for '''B'''iotronic '''O'''perational '''T'''elecommunicator, as Martin spends several long minutes explaining to us. Even though this is supposed to describe what it does, at no point in the episode does B.O.T. ever communicate anything remotely, nor is he biomechanical.
* The high school's computer is astounding. It is exceedingly and hugely sci-fi in design, plus, how the kids were able to use it to send an SOS to the Autobots over the phone is… [[magic]] or something.
* Autobots are weaker than kitchenware: Gears carries a blaster that was made to injure or kill alien beings made entirely of metal, but it can't shoot through a pot lid.
* Similarly, B.O.T. somehow knocks over Gears, Ironhide and Bumblebee with a tray full of corn!
* Benjamin Franklin Pierce High School packs its hallways with some seriously heavy furniture - somehow it's heavy enough that Gears can't break through a stack of it.
* There is a fully functional elevator within a building that just suffered a ''massive'' fire. Shouldn't the power be shut off? Speaking of which, a wrecked building next to a high school seems like ''trouble''. Shouldn't it be boarded up, surrounded by security tape and guarded?
* The fully functional elevator appears to function well despite having a broken cable or two. Martin also spends an awfully long time just watching B.O.T. tearing up the cables.
* The speech synthesizer is "rewired" so that instead of "synthesizing and transmitting," it "receives and decodes". And this somehow lets the kids listen in on a conversation being held in the undersea Decepticon base… yeah, when this can almost be considered one of the episode's ''more'' plausible elements, something is very, very ''wrong''.
* The entire front of the Protectobots' headquarters just rotates up to let them depart. Wouldn't a simple garage door have sufficed? What if someone's walking down the sidewalk when this happens? ''Smack!''
* Apparently Roland and Martin carry duct tape around with them. Here, they use it to tape a girl's mouth shut. Who knows what they use it for the rest of the time!

===Real-world references===
* "Benjamin Franklin Pierce High School" is a reference to [[wikipedia:Hawkeye Pierce|Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce]], the character from ''[[wikipedia:M*A*S*H|M*A*S*H]]'' (who was also the inspiration for the [[Mini-Con]] [[Hawkeye]]'s bio).
* "We'll let the computer do the walking" refers to an ad slogan for the Yellow Pages - "Let your fingers do the walking!"
* ''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
** Sparking and clashing [[lightsaber]]s as Swindle zaps Brawl-B.O.T., and again as Soundwave restores Brawl's brain.

===Continuity notes===
[[File:BrawlPersonalityComponent.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Brawl's brain. Brawl is apparently operated by a tiny dude who sits inside his head.]]
* This episode establishes that the Combaticons have their [[Combaticons' headquarters|own separate base]], as do [[Protectobots' headquarters|the Protectobots]]. As this was the last episode before the jump to 2005, this is never touched on again.
* The billboard over the [[Protectobots' headquarters|Protectobots' urban headquarters]] seems to be advertising for [[E Cola]]. Mmmmmmm. Another advertisement for the beverage would appear years later in the Japanese series, ''[[Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (cartoon)|Super-God Masterforce]]'', in the episode "[[Heroism!! The Birth of Super Ginrai]]".
* Skywarp lives up to a little-used note in his bio, which states that he would be "useless without Megatron's supervision."
* Starscream says to Megatron "''Your'' stupid warrior" in reference to Bruticus, but Starscream was the one who made him.
* Personality components make a second appearance. Unlike in "[[The Revenge of Bruticus]]", they're a physical piece of metal hardware.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Starscream somehow snatches Jeep-mode Swindle into the air while in jet mode.
** Groove can retract his wrist and fire liquid nitrogen out of it. It's a foamy pink stuff this time.
** Ironhide shoots some brown goopy stuff that he claims is lead out of his retracted wrist.
** Wheeljack's gyro-inhibitor is now an energy beam that can blow up missiles.

===Trivia===
[[File:BOT MrRobbins.jpg|thumb|right|200px|You think high school teachers get paid too much? This poor guy proves that you are so, so wrong.]]
[[File:Bot-episode-closingshot.jpg|thumb|right|200px|And on that jovial note, we end Season 2. See you in the theaters [[1986|this summer]], kids, where we'll all die [[The Transformers: The Movie|abrupt, violent deaths]]!]]
* '''''Argh'''''.
* This episode introduces the most loathsome ''Transformers'' characters ever, Roland and Martin. Boosting a laser to a level that could grievously injure or kill someone as a ''prank'', the misogynistic duct-taping of Elise's mouth and constantly dragging her places against her will, and a general smarmy smugness level that makes Starscream seem humble.
* This episode was lampooned at the [[BotCon 2006]] [[MSTF]] presentation, and as far as the writers are concerned, it is the single ''dumbest'' episode in the entirety of ''Transformers'' animation.
* It is also possibly the worst advertisement for the combiner teams possible. Bruticus is destroyed with ''a single shot'' from Defensor, and later stumbles around like a concussed baby as the Autobots shoot at him. Defensor's force field is rendered utterly pointless as the Decepticons just wait for it to run out (no more than 20 seconds), then he too is blasted to bits with ease.
* Production-wise, it seems a bit odd to have three Season One Autobots respond to the kids' SOS, rather than showcasing the brand-new combiner team who would otherwise seem to be the spotlight buy-my-toy characters of the episode (this is even flagged up in the episode itself, when the kids try to CALL the Protectobots for help!) The cause is presumably the same last-minute shoehorning that got the Protectobots into "[[The Revenge of Bruticus]]".
* The original script's cast list for the episode notes that the "junkyard operator" is a spy, and that the only other thing we learn about him is that he gets taken away by the "Federal Authorities". Oh, and he has no lines.<ref>[[Metrodome]]'s Season 3 & 4 DVD set extras</ref> This bizarre plot twist obviously didn't make it into the final draft, but really, what's one more wad of nonsense at this point?
* This was the last episode of season two. Can you imagine if this was the last episode of ''The Transformers'' ever?
* Good God, I need a stiff drink.

===Foreign localization===

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''Giovani inventori'''" ("Young Inventors")
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''B.O.T.'''"
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Bruticus no Fukkatsu'''" (ブルーティカスの復活, "The Revival of Bruticus")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 5]], [[1986]]

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2: Vol. 8 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 3: Series 2.2 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 06: Stagione Due Parte Quarta ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part Two (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume Two: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bot (episode)}}
[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]
[[Category:MSTF]]

B.O.T. (episode)

2014-04-27T10:43:05Z

JudgeDeadd: /* Animation or technical errors */

{{featured}}
{{disambig2|the worst episode of Transformers ever|the titular character of the worst episode ever|B.O.T. (robot)}}
{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=65
|next=The Transformers: The Movie
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=59
|prev2=Neverending Struggle
|next2=War Dawn (episode)
|series3=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=44
|prev3=The Ultimate Doom, Part 3
|next3=Aerial Assault
|image=B.O.T.jpg
|caption=Smarter than a race of multimillion-year-old robots. ''Using Brawl's brain.''
|title="B.O.T."
|production code=#700-64
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|airdate=[[January 9]], 1986
|written by=[[Earl Kress]]
|animation studio=[[Unknown Filipino animation studio]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''After Swindle sells the components of his fellow Combaticons, three kids get their hands on Brawl's brain, using it to make a robot.'''

Or...

'''Worst. Episode. Ever.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:BOT-Road.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Here we come…drivin' down the street…]]
The [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]] enter an unidentified city for no discernible reason, then all transform to vehicle mode for no discernible reason. While transforming, [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] knocks over [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]] for no discernible reason. Brawl expresses his displeasure for an obvious reason. They then drive (yes, even [[Vortex (G1)|the]] [[Blast Off (G1)|flyers]] ''drive'') about ten feet down the street and form [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]] for no discernible reason. He is immediately destroyed with a single shot by [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] (who's there for no discernible reason). Defensor just leaves the pile of parts alone and unsupervised, apparently not bothering to alert the other [[Autobot]]s or anything. This enables Swindle—who has somehow survived ''without a scratch'' the explosion that reduced all the other Combaticons to a pile of parts — to gather up the bits. No human authorities are involved either.

Swindle then visits the generically evil foreign guy "[[El Presidente]]" on his ship filled with weapons in order to buy parts to repair the Combaticons.

Meanwhile, [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] is running a simulation of his new [[orbit disruptor cannon]]. After [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] whines, Megatron explains that once the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]] is knocked from orbit, they will use [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]]'s new device to control the tides. They will then use this colossal power to flood a single canyon, creating "a limitless source of power". What?

At the [[Combaticons' headquarters]], El Presidente's men load up the weapons and more advanced computer systems from the wrecked robots, as apparently Swindle forgot about that whole "repair" thing. Swindle then leaves to take the remaining parts to a dump. Shortly after they all leave, [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] arrives, noting no one seems to be home. He discovers a piece of one of the Combaticons, then notices there's a trail of them. Confused, he asks Megatron what to do. Megatron calmly replies that he should perchance follow the trail of wreckage in order to discover where it may lead.

[[Image:BOT-Luigi.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Giant turtles out to get him, creepy crabs are right behind.]]

Swindle arrives in a junkyard, where he threatens a junkyard worker before he starts to dump the leftovers. Starscream and Skywarp discover him in the act and capture him as he tries to escape. Back at the [[Decepticon Headquarters (G1 Earth)|Decepticon base]], Soundwave installs a bomb in Swindle's head; he has 15 hours to reassemble the Combaticons before it goes off. Swindle takes the parts back from various mid-'80s evil foreign stereotypes and reassembles the team. However, they are unable to combine into Bruticus because Brawl's [[personality component]] is missing. Swindle is charged with getting the component back or the bomb will still go off.

Meanwhile, at [[Benjamin Franklin Pierce High School]], [[Robbins|Mr. Robbins]]'s demonstration of a laser is sabotaged by two sociopathic students, [[Martin and Roland]], who boost the laser's power output so high it instantly burns a hole through steel. Rather than involve the authorities, Mr. Robbins threatens them with an "F" in his class if they don't win a blue ribbon at the science fair, and assigns [[Elise Presser]] to assist them for no discernible reason.

Outside, the two assholes meet the meek and spineless Elise. They realize a high-rise is on fire across the street, and witness the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]] coming to the rescue (well, four of them; [[Blades (G1)|Blades]] cuts the cables holding a rig two window-washers are on with his rotors—the bastard). This inspires them to build a robot for their project. The three rummage for parts in the same junkyard where Swindle dumped the Combaticons' leftover remains, and Elise discovers a random piece of machinery. They spend the night in the school's lab assembling their machine, and Martin dubs it "[[B.O.T. (robot)|B.O.T.]]". After several failures, Elise installs the random piece of machinery, which turns out to be Brawl's personality component. Naturally, Brawl-B.O.T. goes postal and starts trashing the place.

[[Image:BOT-CompRoom.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Unbeknownst to all, the school was secretly funded by a hideously gargantuan Richie Rich.]]

Martin grabs the laser and fires, and B.O.T. runs off. The kids run to the school's preposterously-advanced computer lab, and use it to call the Protectobots. [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] gets the SOS, and [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] sends [[Gears (G1)|Gears]], [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] and [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] to investigate.

Swindle re-threatens the junkyard worker, who says that maybe some kids took the part Swindle is after. Swindle mutters "you better hope so"… then proceeds to rummage through the trash, seemingly instantly forgetting that whole "kids" angle.

The [[Autobot]]s arrive at the school. The kids seem disappointed that they didn't get the Protectobots, but quickly lead them to their runaway creation in the school's cafeteria. Brawl-B.O.T. knocks all three Autobots over with a single serving pan of corn on the cob (That high-school food, I tell ya, huh? Huh?), then deflects Gears's blaster-fire with a pot lid. Ironhide shoots molten lead at Brawl-B.O.T., but he leaps to grab a light fixture, avoiding the attack, and the now-weakened floor collapses under Ironhide. Brawl-B.O.T. runs for it, barricading the door out with remarkable speed, and heads for a seemingly abandoned building… as Swindle watches.

The Autobots follow, telling the kids to stay put. They enter the building, and find that Brawl-B.O.T. has taken an elevator thirty floors up. Ironhide wedges a stick into the doors, and the trio run up the stairs. Outside, the future serial killers grow instantly impatient, and drag Elise inside the building. They remove the stick, enter the elevator and head up.

A blast erupts ''behind'' the Autobots, and Ironhide orders them to shoot up. They shoot at absolutely ''nothing'', Ironhide declares they hit whatever it was, and they run right into Swindle. Meanwhile, the elevator has stopped. Roland is lifted up so he can open the emergency hatch, and discovers B.O.T. is trying to break the elevator cables.

[[File:BOT Defensor forcefield.jpg|thumb|right|200px|My force field's only good for 10 seconds - you've got a plan for after that, right Prime? ...Prime?]]

Sadly, B.O.T. is prevented from snapping the cables by an energy blast to the back. The Autobots pick themselves up, seemingly having been soundly thrashed by Swindle all by himself. They all run outside to witness Swindle driving away. Back at Decepticon headquarters, Brawl is restored and the bomb removed, and Bruticus is formed again.

At the school, Elise inspects the remnants of B.O.T. to find that the "funny component" is gone. Martin decides to hunt it down by reworking the machine that read B.O.T.'s "brain response" so it can track the signal. The three drive to the ocean, and Elise rewires B.O.T.'s speech synthesizer so it receives and decodes signals rather than creating them, letting them hear what Brawl hears. Megatron insists on a test-run of the cannon, and picks Autobot headquarters as the target. (Because it's in orbit, you see. Wait, no, it isn't.) The kids rush off to warn the Autobots, who send a signal to the [[Protectobots' headquarters]].

Having been properly forewarned, the Autobots apparently just sit around and wait for Megatron to set up his giant cannon, get his troops into position just outside their base, and for the Combaticons to assemble Bruticus before starting to defend themselves. Bruticus basically stumbles around until he falls apart. The Protectobots arrive and random fighting ensues.

[[Image:Elisetape.jpg|left|200px|thumb|This is the light-hearted, end-of-episode comedy beat. No, seriously.]]

Inside the base, the kids think they need to help, and Elise has a rare moment of spine. Using Teletraan I, she sends B.O.T. out into the battlefield on a beeline to the disruptor cannon. The Protectobots combine into Defensor and generate a force field, protecting about four other Autobots. The Decepticons wait until the force field wears off, then one shot blasts Defensor to pieces. Bruticus re-forms and tries to fire the cannon, but it turns and blasts Starscream and Soundwave instead. B.O.T. is working the cannon using a conveniently-placed control panel at the base, and causes it to explode by hitting the clearly-marked "overload" button, sending Bruticus flying away and forcing a Decepticon retreat.

Back inside, the Autobots thank the kids for their help and offer their apologies for the loss of their robot. Elise asks if they have any spare parts so they can try again… and Roland and Martin duct-tape her mouth shut and drag her away while the Autobots just watch… ''argh argh argh''…
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] (7)
* [[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] (18)
* [[Groove (G1)|Groove]] (19)
* [[Hot Spot (G1)|Hot Spot]] (20)
* [[Blades (G1)|Blades]] (21)
* [[Streetwise (G1)|Streetwise]] (22)
* [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (24)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (25)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (26)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (27)
* [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (28)
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (29)
|c2=
* [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] (1)
* [[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]] (2)
* [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] (3)
* [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]] (4)
* [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] (5)
* [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]] (6)
* [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (9)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (10)
* [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (11)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (12)
* [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (13)
* [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (30)
* [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (31)
|c3=
* [[El Presidente]] (8)
* [[Robbins]] (14)
* [[Martin and Roland|Roland]] (15)
* [[Martin and Roland|Martin]] (16)
* [[Elise Presser]] (17)

|c4=
* [[B.O.T. (robot)|B.O.T.]] (23)
}}

==Quotes==
[[File:BOT Swindle grabbed.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Until you can tell me what you mean by "brain" and "head", even you can't be trusted.]]
"Call sanitation. There's junk all over the street!"
:—'''Defensor''', leaving his mess for the humans to clean up. He's humanity's defender, not their maid.

"Megatron, I-I-I couldn't find Brawl's personality component! I didn't think it would ''matter''…"
:—'''Swindle'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s high opinion of his teammate.

[[File:BOT wet Gears.jpg|thumb|right|200px|You are so right.]]
"Here, munch a little lead!"
:—'''Ironhide''' just before spraying something that's not lead at B.O.T.

"This is so degrading."
:—'''Gears''' on being beaten by Brawl-B.O.T. Or he was talking about the episode itself?

"We should've just taken the 'F' in Science."
:—'''Martin''', not knowing that if they did, we probably would have been spared this horrendous episode.

"If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I'll melt you down for scrap [[tutonium]]!"
:—'''Megatron''' threatens Swindle with gibberish

==Notes==
{{quote|The episode "B.O.T." was one I always remembered from when I was young. But the thing is, I had just remembered the story focusing on Swindle selling off the other Combaticons, and I had totally mentally blocked out the whole school science project part of the story! Wow was I disappointed when I went back and watched that one!|[[Derrick J. Wyatt]]<ref>[http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/interviews-27/derrick-wyatt-interview-166415/ ''Transformers Animated'' Art Director Derrick Wyatt interview at TFW2005.com]</ref>}}

===Animation or technical errors===
* Argh.
[[Image:BOT Bumblebee tries door.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Either Bumblebee's shrunk to the size of a human, or that's one humongous coffee pot on the counter to his left.]]
* The scenery in this episode is always ''huge''. In the opening scene, the five Combaticons are driving down a downtown street in a row (yes, ''even the fliers are driving on the ground'') with plenty of room. Humans are drawn tiny compared to the doors of their own buildings, and the Autobots fit easily inside human structures.
* The Combaticons get the wrong transformation sound effect (ascending pitch) when transforming to their vehicle modes.
* Swindle's vehicle mode is missing its Decepticon symbol as he gets stuck against Brawl.
* It's inherent to their color models, but the combination sequence makes it ''really obvious'' that Onslaught completely changes color from blue to white while transforming into Bruticus.
* The Bruticus scrap pile changes between shots; first it's a few scattered parts on the street, then it's a solid pile of them.
* Swindle pops out of the junk pile from beneath a yellow rectangle with wheels. The only yellow component on Bruticus is… Swindle.
* As Swindle drives past the guy with the radio on the docks, he's layered too far to the left and appears to be hovering above the road.
* When Swindle transforms to meet with El Presidente, his gun attaches to the side of his right arm. In the next shot, it's attached to the ''front'' of his arm (its usual, correct location.) Then in the next shot, it's on the ''left'' arm.
* In Megatron's simulation, Astrotrain is completely off-model - he's got no cockpit, his sides are purple instead of gray, he's got some kind of side vents that shouldn't be there, and his nosecone covers the entire front of his shuttle mode.
* Skywarp's voice is a bit off - much more nasally than usual.
* There is no indication as to what jet-mode Starscream uses to capture jeep-mode Swindle.
* Swindle's eyes aren't colored as he apologizes to the Russians. In the same shot, we suddenly hear the ticking-clock sound of the bomb in his head, when it has been silent till now. It will continue to pop up randomly until Swindle completes his mission.
* In the lineup shot of the Combaticons, Onslaught is the same height as everybody else, instead of being taller. Swindle's cannon is missing.
* When the teacher addresses Martin and Roland, his desk is visible behind him. The books that were on it - which were prominently burned through by the laser a moment earlier - have vanished.
* Roland's mouth moves when Martin says "Aw, come on" - especially noticeable since Roland then goes on to speak his own line in the same shot.
* The voice that says "Stay calm!" doesn't actually belong to any of the Protectobots. It might be a "non-finalized" First Aid, who otherwise hasn't spoken yet. Hot Spot's voice is likewise not the version that would be settled on in Season 3.
* While the kids are constructing B.O.T in the lab, Elise's glasses are clear instead of blue in one of the shots.
* Brawl's personality component changes design several times between shots. In its main establishing shot, it's drawn as some sort of real-world electrical monitoring device, complete with gauges and buttons.
* When Elise says "Maybe I wired the box in wrong," one of her legs is drawn way too short, almost as if she's missing her right thigh.
* When Mr. Robbins turned on the laser, it shot a continuous beam. When Martin uses it on B.O.T., it fires bolts.
* The first two times we see the Ark, it has two engines rather than three.
* The "SOS" Gears receives is written in numbers rather than letters and isn't aligned to match the angle of Teletraan I's screen. Also, Gears is sitting in a human-looking chair we've never seen before.
* After threatening the dude at the junkyard, Swindle turns to leave, walking toward... the fence. He starts to clear some junk out of his way, but then the scene ends and we never find out if he realizes he's not walking toward the exit.
* The kids create and lose B.O.T. in the middle of the night. When the Autobots reach the school, it's bright and sunny outside. If this ''isn't'' an animation error, then we are forced to assume that Brawl-B.O.T. spent several hours not doing much at all, staying inside the school the whole time, while the kids waited for the Autobots to arrive.
* Gears' mouth isn't moving for the end of his "hunk of junk" line.
* Ironhide towers over the door to the kitchen, yet he fits inside a moment later. Three Autobots fit in the stairwell of the condemned building.
* As he delivers the line, "Well if that don't fry my circuits," Ironhide's left shoulder is missing.
* As everyone runs out of the kitchen, Ironhide clips through the door frame.
[[File:BFPierce High School.jpg|thumb|right|200px| ]]
* The first shot of the front of the school shows it with two arches, but when the group chases after B.O.T., it's one big rectangular opening. On a similar note, Gears describes the high school as a "one-level structure", but it's pretty clearly two stories.
* The empty building is, presumably, the burnt-out skyscraper from before.... but it's totally changed its appearance when B.O.T. takes refuge in it.
* The elevator in the condemned building has two rows of lights above it, but in the close-ups there's only one row (with 12 lights, far fewer than the thirty needed for the number of floors Bumblebee says are in the building).
* The top of Ironhide's torso is all red as he runs up the stairs, and again as he gives the order to stop firing. Most of it should be gray. (The same error happens ''again'' at Autobot Headquarters when the kids warn the Autobots about the disruptor attack.)
* The "shooting at nothing upstairs" bit might be attributed to animation/script mismatch. The animation puts the Autobots in a circular staircase so they are plainly shooting at the clearly-lit curved wall directly ahead of them. It's ''possible'' the writer intended them to be shooting up a straight staircase into darkness… but that's pure conjecture.
* "Boost me up" - Martin (or Roland, who can tell)'s mouth isn't moving.
* Starscream has blue eyes (instead of red) as Brawl's brain is restored.
* Swindle's cannon is back on the side of his arm (instead of the front) as Megatron throttles him.
* When Swindle stumbles back alongside the other Combaticons, Onslaught's forehead is colored yellow, like his visor.
* After he forms in Decepticon Headquarters, Bruticus's nose is colored the same red as his eyes, giving the effect of a visor.
* During a close-up, Elise's red VW Beetle becomes Swindle-colored (including a purple hood!), then changes back and remains red through the rest of the scene.
* As Ironhide is contacting the Protectobots, he turns away from the screen, at which point the top of his shoulder suddenly turns partially red.
* When the Protectobots receive the signal, the lit-up part appears off to the side of the rest of the display.
[[File:BOT Protectobot HQ exterior.jpg|thumb|right|200px| ]]
* In a long, slow zoom-in on Protectobot headquarters, we have plenty of time to see that the front facade has a central hallway carved into it. Then when it lifts up for them to drive out, the entrance is a normal door.
* When the Combaticons combine at the beginning of the final battle, Vortex and Blast Off are [[Scramble City (toyline)|switched]].
* Optimus and the Autobots attack from a cliff, but a few seconds later Optimus is standing in front of the Ark.
* Wheeljack's [[gyro-inhibitor shell|gyro-inhibitor]] appears to fire out of the air next to his left ear. (Also, it's animated as some kind of energy wave instead of a shell-launched weapon; also also, it's not for shooting down missiles, but for destabilizing a robot's sense of balance.)
* It's not real clear who fired the missiles, either. Onslaught was the last guy we saw shooting, but he was shooting laser beams.
* When he takes on Starscream, Streetwise suddenly has a different, much deeper voice compared to the one he had last episode (and just a couple of scenes earlier!) The same voice delivers the line "Hot enough for you guys?" from off-screen, shortly before we cut to Hot Spot - so maybe that was supposed to be his voice... but it's not the same voice as ''his'' single line earlier in the episode, either.
* A wall appears behind Megatron and Soundwave as they face down Hot Spot in the middle of the desert.
* As Megatron transforms into gun mode, his shoulder rest appears and disappears - as does Soundwave's Decepticon symbol.
* Hot Spot's guns use the Decepticon laser sound effect.
* Hot Spot shoots Soundwave (carrying gun-mode Megatron), knocking him backwards into Brawl. In the next shot, Megatron transforms and lands nearby - and Brawl, who has already landed on Soundwave, comes flying in and lands on Megatron.
* As the Protectobots transform to Defensor, a huge wave of energy is shown (for no real reason).
* As Megatron orders Bruticus to fire the disruptor, his waist controls are colored in reverse (blue on the left and red on the right). This is corrected a few seconds later.
* Bruticus's gun disappears from his hand between shots as he runs to the cannon.
* As B.O.T. gains control of the disruptor, Megatron is far to the right of the other Decepticons, but a few shots later Soundwave and Ramjet are right behind him.
* Just before Soundwave is hit, he randomly lifts his left leg in the air.
* When the kids are watching B.O.T. on Teletraan's screen, the disruptor is no longer pointing to the left as it was before, and B.O.T. - who is supposed to be working the controls ''behind'' it - is now visible in front of it.

===Continuity errors===
[[Image:Combaticon pyramid.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The Combaticons unveil their new routine as the Polyhex Cowbots cheerleaders.]]
[[File:BOT Orbit Disruptor Cannon.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Megatron? Did you just build ''[[Masquerade|yet another]]'' [[Fire on the Mountain|giant immobile cannon]]? Seriously dude?]]
[[Image:BOT-Overload.jpg|right|200px|thumb|"I assure you, there is zero chance of this coming back to bite us!"]]
* ''Argh''.
* In the opening scene, why didn't the Combaticons just combine into Bruticus right away, rather than transforming to vehicles, driving like down the street for like two seconds, and ''then'' combining?
* Did Defensor really not see Swindle struggling out of the wreckage right in front of him?
* Swindle goes to El Presidente to ''buy'' parts to repair the other Combaticons. The next time we see them, he's ''sold'' the Combaticon parts— for ''what'', we don't know. There is no explanation as to why he suddenly completely changed his plan.
* As much fuss as Megatron makes over how much he wants Bruticus back, he sure doesn't act like it:
** Why does Megatron put a bomb in Swindle's head? If it goes off, he loses Bruticus for good.
** Why does Megatron have ''only'' Swindle go looking for the lost personality component?
** Fifteen hours seems like an impossibly tight deadline to track down dozens or hundreds of parts scattered ''all over the world'' (including the Middle East and Russia), retrieve them, reassemble them into complex high-tech robots, AND still have time left over to track down Brawl-B.O.T.
* How did Swindle know ''exactly'' where to find each and every Combaticon component across the globe once he sold them to ''El Presidente''?
* Just because Brawl is out of commission, the Combaticons have to form a robot-pyramid before becoming Bruticus. Why can't the other four just float up to their correct spots, like usual?
* The kids don't seem to recognize what Transformers are, but by this point in the series, they're internationally recognized, there are [[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1|holidays]] and [[Optimus Prime memorial|tributes to them]], etc. Despite this, they seem to instantly accept the existence of Transformers.
* Superhuman Elise:
** When B.O.T. is first activated, Elise is forcefully flung off the ladder by its arm. Somehow, she lands with only a soft thud and no real injuries.
* The Autobots seem to initially not understand what a high school is. This is in spite of the fact that they have been on Earth for a couple of years now and are friends with 3 school-aged humans, at least two of which (Carly and Chip) we ''know'' have a formal education.
* How did Swindle get above the Autobots on the way up? And how'd he get past them on the way down again?
* "Only Defensor can stand against Bruticus," says Optimus Prime... apparently forgetting that [[Superion (G1)|Superion]] did quite well against him just a few episodes back. And there's [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], too.
* Why did the Autobots do nothing while the Decepticons set up a gigantic cannon right outside their headquarters? They don't pop up and start shooting until the cannon is in place and Bruticus is assembled.
* The Autobots basically ''give up'' trying to beat the Decepticons, choosing to hide behind Defensor's force field. When the force field gives out, it would have been game over for the 'bots, if it weren't for Elise and the psycho twins.
* It's never really specified why Megatron specifically needs Bruticus to fire the cannon. If it's a size thing, he also has [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] and [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]]. The size thing is debatable because the cannon has a human-scaled control panel on it. Oy.
* On that note, the human-level control panel has a great big button clearly marked "Over Load" in English. Why did he install that?
** No, really, why?
* The disruptor cannon is supposed to be powerful enough to obliterate Autobot Headquarters and ''knock Earth's moon out of its orbit''. When it hits several of the Decepticons, it just knocks them into the air.
* Bruticus didn't notice B.O.T. fiddling with the controls right there in front of him?
* This episode was made.

===The surreal world of "B.O.T."===
* '''''Argh'''''.
[[Image:BOT-ModelReuse.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Me an' my friends are Jem girls, especially Jimmy "The Legbreaker" Cianciulli!]]
[[Image:Elpresidente.jpg|thumb|200px|right|"The medals? This one is for being evil. This one is for having an accent. This one, for beard-growing. This one, a reward for having the most medals."]]
* Mr. Robbins's class is made up of a ''very'' odd collection of students. The ''least'' odd are the two women who are just recolored character models from ''[[Jem]]'', [[Hasbro]]'s then-current cartoon-advertised foray into girls' fashion dolls. Towards the back, however, appear to be [[Auto-Bop|thugs in business suits.]]
* The classroom itself appears to be ''huge'' in the initial shot. And why don't the desks have table tops? Only one girl is taking notes, holding a bunch of paper in her lap. There are no backpacks to be seen. And as Roland and Martin walk out, there's only an arch in front of them (with no actual ''doors'' attached to it!).
* The class, by the way, lasts for about two minutes before the bell rings.
* "El Presidente" apparently just holds court on a docked ship in a port somewhere, selling missiles to whoever walks in the door.
* The teens completely fail to notice a hundred-story building that is almost completely engulfed in flames and surrounded by emergency vehicles until they hear somebody fifty stories up call for help.
* Groove claims to use liquid nitrogen to put out the fire. Liquid nitrogen evaporates at -198 °C (-320 °F), so it would completely boil away the second it hits the atmosphere.<ref>[[wikipedia:Liquid nitrogen|Liquid nitrogen at Wikipedia]]</ref> On top of that, liquid nitrogen is not pink. (In fairness, virtually ''no'' episode of the cartoon portrayed this accurately - see also "[[Divide and Conquer]]", "[[Quest for Survival]]", and "[[Triple Takeover]]".)
* Streetwise catches the two falling window-washers with his ''metal'' arms after they've fallen about fifty stories, and somehow they're not splattered all over him. [[Prime Target (episode)|Remember, kids:]] [[A Plague of Insecticons|If anything besides the ground]] [[War Dawn (episode)|breaks your fall,]] [[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2|you'll be just fine!]]
* Three high school kids can build a walking, fully articulated robot out of junk bits and Brawl's brain ''overnight'' that is ''stronger'' and ''smarter'' than the Autobots. (The latter would be a little more believable if it weren't for the "Brawl's brain" part.)
* "B.O.T." stands for '''B'''iotronic '''O'''perational '''T'''elecommunicator, as Martin spends several long minutes explaining to us. Even though this is supposed to describe what it does, at no point in the episode does B.O.T. ever communicate anything remotely, nor is he biomechanical.
* The high school's computer is astounding. It is exceedingly and hugely sci-fi in design, plus, how the kids were able to use it to send an SOS to the Autobots over the phone is… [[magic]] or something.
* Autobots are weaker than kitchenware: Gears carries a blaster that was made to injure or kill alien beings made entirely of metal, but it can't shoot through a pot lid.
* Similarly, B.O.T. somehow knocks over Gears, Ironhide and Bumblebee with a tray full of corn!
* Benjamin Franklin Pierce High School packs its hallways with some seriously heavy furniture - somehow it's heavy enough that Gears can't break through a stack of it.
* There is a fully functional elevator within a building that just suffered a ''massive'' fire. Shouldn't the power be shut off? Speaking of which, a wrecked building next to a high school seems like ''trouble''. Shouldn't it be boarded up, surrounded by security tape and guarded?
* The fully functional elevator appears to function well despite having a broken cable or two. Martin also spends an awfully long time just watching B.O.T. tearing up the cables.
* The speech synthesizer is "rewired" so that instead of "synthesizing and transmitting," it "receives and decodes". And this somehow lets the kids listen in on a conversation being held in the undersea Decepticon base… yeah, when this can almost be considered one of the episode's ''more'' plausible elements, something is very, very ''wrong''.
* The entire front of the Protectobots' headquarters just rotates up to let them depart. Wouldn't a simple garage door have sufficed? What if someone's walking down the sidewalk when this happens? ''Smack!''
* Apparently Roland and Martin carry duct tape around with them. Here, they use it to tape a girl's mouth shut. Who knows what they use it for the rest of the time!

===Real-world references===
* "Benjamin Franklin Pierce High School" is a reference to [[wikipedia:Hawkeye Pierce|Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce]], the character from ''[[wikipedia:M*A*S*H|M*A*S*H]]'' (who was also the inspiration for the [[Mini-Con]] [[Hawkeye]]'s bio).
* "We'll let the computer do the walking" refers to an ad slogan for the Yellow Pages - "Let your fingers do the walking!"
* ''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
** Sparking and clashing [[lightsaber]]s as Swindle zaps Brawl-B.O.T., and again as Soundwave restores Brawl's brain.

===Continuity notes===
[[File:BrawlPersonalityComponent.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Brawl's brain. Brawl is apparently operated by a tiny dude who sits inside his head.]]
* This episode establishes that the Combaticons have their [[Combaticons' headquarters|own separate base]], as do [[Protectobots' headquarters|the Protectobots]]. As this was the last episode before the jump to 2005, this is never touched on again.
* The billboard over the [[Protectobots' headquarters|Protectobots' urban headquarters]] seems to be advertising for [[E Cola]]. Mmmmmmm. Another advertisement for the beverage would appear years later in the Japanese series, ''[[Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (cartoon)|Super-God Masterforce]]'', in the episode "[[Heroism!! The Birth of Super Ginrai]]".
* Skywarp lives up to a little-used note in his bio, which states that he would be "useless without Megatron's supervision."
* Starscream says to Megatron "''Your'' stupid warrior" in reference to Bruticus, but Starscream was the one who made him.
* Personality components make a second appearance. Unlike in "[[The Revenge of Bruticus]]", they're a physical piece of metal hardware.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Starscream somehow snatches Jeep-mode Swindle into the air while in jet mode.
** Groove can retract his wrist and fire liquid nitrogen out of it. It's a foamy pink stuff this time.
** Ironhide shoots some brown goopy stuff that he claims is lead out of his retracted wrist.
** Wheeljack's gyro-inhibitor is now an energy beam that can blow up missiles.

===Trivia===
[[File:BOT MrRobbins.jpg|thumb|right|200px|You think high school teachers get paid too much? This poor guy proves that you are so, so wrong.]]
[[File:Bot-episode-closingshot.jpg|thumb|right|200px|And on that jovial note, we end Season 2. See you in the theaters [[1986|this summer]], kids, where we'll all die [[The Transformers: The Movie|abrupt, violent deaths]]!]]
* '''''Argh'''''.
* This episode introduces the most loathsome ''Transformers'' characters ever, Roland and Martin. Boosting a laser to a level that could grievously injure or kill someone as a ''prank'', the misogynistic duct-taping of Elise's mouth and constantly dragging her places against her will, and a general smarmy smugness level that makes Starscream seem humble.
* This episode was lampooned at the [[BotCon 2006]] [[MSTF]] presentation, and as far as the writers are concerned, it is the single ''dumbest'' episode in the entirety of ''Transformers'' animation.
* It is also possibly the worst advertisement for the combiner teams possible. Bruticus is destroyed with ''a single shot'' from Defensor, and later stumbles around like a concussed baby as the Autobots shoot at him. Defensor's force field is rendered utterly pointless as the Decepticons just wait for it to run out (no more than 20 seconds), then he too is blasted to bits with ease.
* Production-wise, it seems a bit odd to have three Season One Autobots respond to the kids' SOS, rather than showcasing the brand-new combiner team who would otherwise seem to be the spotlight buy-my-toy characters of the episode (this is even flagged up in the episode itself, when the kids try to CALL the Protectobots for help!) The cause is presumably the same last-minute shoehorning that got the Protectobots into "[[The Revenge of Bruticus]]".
* The original script's cast list for the episode notes that the "junkyard operator" is a spy, and that the only other thing we learn about him is that he gets taken away by the "Federal Authorities". Oh, and he has no lines.<ref>[[Metrodome]]'s Season 3 & 4 DVD set extras</ref> This bizarre plot twist obviously didn't make it into the final draft, but really, what's one more wad of nonsense at this point?
* This was the last episode of season two. Can you imagine if this was the last episode of ''The Transformers'' ever?
* Good God, I need a stiff drink.

===Foreign localization===

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''Giovani inventori'''" ("Young Inventors")
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''B.O.T.'''"
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Bruticus no Fukkatsu'''" (ブルーティカスの復活, "The Revival of Bruticus")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 5]], [[1986]]

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2: Vol. 8 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 3: Series 2.2 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 06: Stagione Due Parte Quarta ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part Two (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume Two: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bot (episode)}}
[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]
[[Category:MSTF]]

B.O.T. (episode)

2014-04-27T10:33:32Z

JudgeDeadd: /* Animation or technical errors */

{{featured}}
{{disambig2|the worst episode of Transformers ever|the titular character of the worst episode ever|B.O.T. (robot)}}
{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=65
|next=The Transformers: The Movie
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=59
|prev2=Neverending Struggle
|next2=War Dawn (episode)
|series3=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=44
|prev3=The Ultimate Doom, Part 3
|next3=Aerial Assault
|image=B.O.T.jpg
|caption=Smarter than a race of multimillion-year-old robots. ''Using Brawl's brain.''
|title="B.O.T."
|production code=#700-64
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|airdate=[[January 9]], 1986
|written by=[[Earl Kress]]
|animation studio=[[Unknown Filipino animation studio]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''After Swindle sells the components of his fellow Combaticons, three kids get their hands on Brawl's brain, using it to make a robot.'''

Or...

'''Worst. Episode. Ever.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:BOT-Road.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Here we come…drivin' down the street…]]
The [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]] enter an unidentified city for no discernible reason, then all transform to vehicle mode for no discernible reason. While transforming, [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] knocks over [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]] for no discernible reason. Brawl expresses his displeasure for an obvious reason. They then drive (yes, even [[Vortex (G1)|the]] [[Blast Off (G1)|flyers]] ''drive'') about ten feet down the street and form [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]] for no discernible reason. He is immediately destroyed with a single shot by [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] (who's there for no discernible reason). Defensor just leaves the pile of parts alone and unsupervised, apparently not bothering to alert the other [[Autobot]]s or anything. This enables Swindle—who has somehow survived ''without a scratch'' the explosion that reduced all the other Combaticons to a pile of parts — to gather up the bits. No human authorities are involved either.

Swindle then visits the generically evil foreign guy "[[El Presidente]]" on his ship filled with weapons in order to buy parts to repair the Combaticons.

Meanwhile, [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] is running a simulation of his new [[orbit disruptor cannon]]. After [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] whines, Megatron explains that once the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]] is knocked from orbit, they will use [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]]'s new device to control the tides. They will then use this colossal power to flood a single canyon, creating "a limitless source of power". What?

At the [[Combaticons' headquarters]], El Presidente's men load up the weapons and more advanced computer systems from the wrecked robots, as apparently Swindle forgot about that whole "repair" thing. Swindle then leaves to take the remaining parts to a dump. Shortly after they all leave, [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] arrives, noting no one seems to be home. He discovers a piece of one of the Combaticons, then notices there's a trail of them. Confused, he asks Megatron what to do. Megatron calmly replies that he should perchance follow the trail of wreckage in order to discover where it may lead.

[[Image:BOT-Luigi.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Giant turtles out to get him, creepy crabs are right behind.]]

Swindle arrives in a junkyard, where he threatens a junkyard worker before he starts to dump the leftovers. Starscream and Skywarp discover him in the act and capture him as he tries to escape. Back at the [[Decepticon Headquarters (G1 Earth)|Decepticon base]], Soundwave installs a bomb in Swindle's head; he has 15 hours to reassemble the Combaticons before it goes off. Swindle takes the parts back from various mid-'80s evil foreign stereotypes and reassembles the team. However, they are unable to combine into Bruticus because Brawl's [[personality component]] is missing. Swindle is charged with getting the component back or the bomb will still go off.

Meanwhile, at [[Benjamin Franklin Pierce High School]], [[Robbins|Mr. Robbins]]'s demonstration of a laser is sabotaged by two sociopathic students, [[Martin and Roland]], who boost the laser's power output so high it instantly burns a hole through steel. Rather than involve the authorities, Mr. Robbins threatens them with an "F" in his class if they don't win a blue ribbon at the science fair, and assigns [[Elise Presser]] to assist them for no discernible reason.

Outside, the two assholes meet the meek and spineless Elise. They realize a high-rise is on fire across the street, and witness the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]] coming to the rescue (well, four of them; [[Blades (G1)|Blades]] cuts the cables holding a rig two window-washers are on with his rotors—the bastard). This inspires them to build a robot for their project. The three rummage for parts in the same junkyard where Swindle dumped the Combaticons' leftover remains, and Elise discovers a random piece of machinery. They spend the night in the school's lab assembling their machine, and Martin dubs it "[[B.O.T. (robot)|B.O.T.]]". After several failures, Elise installs the random piece of machinery, which turns out to be Brawl's personality component. Naturally, Brawl-B.O.T. goes postal and starts trashing the place.

[[Image:BOT-CompRoom.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Unbeknownst to all, the school was secretly funded by a hideously gargantuan Richie Rich.]]

Martin grabs the laser and fires, and B.O.T. runs off. The kids run to the school's preposterously-advanced computer lab, and use it to call the Protectobots. [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] gets the SOS, and [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] sends [[Gears (G1)|Gears]], [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] and [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] to investigate.

Swindle re-threatens the junkyard worker, who says that maybe some kids took the part Swindle is after. Swindle mutters "you better hope so"… then proceeds to rummage through the trash, seemingly instantly forgetting that whole "kids" angle.

The [[Autobot]]s arrive at the school. The kids seem disappointed that they didn't get the Protectobots, but quickly lead them to their runaway creation in the school's cafeteria. Brawl-B.O.T. knocks all three Autobots over with a single serving pan of corn on the cob (That high-school food, I tell ya, huh? Huh?), then deflects Gears's blaster-fire with a pot lid. Ironhide shoots molten lead at Brawl-B.O.T., but he leaps to grab a light fixture, avoiding the attack, and the now-weakened floor collapses under Ironhide. Brawl-B.O.T. runs for it, barricading the door out with remarkable speed, and heads for a seemingly abandoned building… as Swindle watches.

The Autobots follow, telling the kids to stay put. They enter the building, and find that Brawl-B.O.T. has taken an elevator thirty floors up. Ironhide wedges a stick into the doors, and the trio run up the stairs. Outside, the future serial killers grow instantly impatient, and drag Elise inside the building. They remove the stick, enter the elevator and head up.

A blast erupts ''behind'' the Autobots, and Ironhide orders them to shoot up. They shoot at absolutely ''nothing'', Ironhide declares they hit whatever it was, and they run right into Swindle. Meanwhile, the elevator has stopped. Roland is lifted up so he can open the emergency hatch, and discovers B.O.T. is trying to break the elevator cables.

[[File:BOT Defensor forcefield.jpg|thumb|right|200px|My force field's only good for 10 seconds - you've got a plan for after that, right Prime? ...Prime?]]

Sadly, B.O.T. is prevented from snapping the cables by an energy blast to the back. The Autobots pick themselves up, seemingly having been soundly thrashed by Swindle all by himself. They all run outside to witness Swindle driving away. Back at Decepticon headquarters, Brawl is restored and the bomb removed, and Bruticus is formed again.

At the school, Elise inspects the remnants of B.O.T. to find that the "funny component" is gone. Martin decides to hunt it down by reworking the machine that read B.O.T.'s "brain response" so it can track the signal. The three drive to the ocean, and Elise rewires B.O.T.'s speech synthesizer so it receives and decodes signals rather than creating them, letting them hear what Brawl hears. Megatron insists on a test-run of the cannon, and picks Autobot headquarters as the target. (Because it's in orbit, you see. Wait, no, it isn't.) The kids rush off to warn the Autobots, who send a signal to the [[Protectobots' headquarters]].

Having been properly forewarned, the Autobots apparently just sit around and wait for Megatron to set up his giant cannon, get his troops into position just outside their base, and for the Combaticons to assemble Bruticus before starting to defend themselves. Bruticus basically stumbles around until he falls apart. The Protectobots arrive and random fighting ensues.

[[Image:Elisetape.jpg|left|200px|thumb|This is the light-hearted, end-of-episode comedy beat. No, seriously.]]

Inside the base, the kids think they need to help, and Elise has a rare moment of spine. Using Teletraan I, she sends B.O.T. out into the battlefield on a beeline to the disruptor cannon. The Protectobots combine into Defensor and generate a force field, protecting about four other Autobots. The Decepticons wait until the force field wears off, then one shot blasts Defensor to pieces. Bruticus re-forms and tries to fire the cannon, but it turns and blasts Starscream and Soundwave instead. B.O.T. is working the cannon using a conveniently-placed control panel at the base, and causes it to explode by hitting the clearly-marked "overload" button, sending Bruticus flying away and forcing a Decepticon retreat.

Back inside, the Autobots thank the kids for their help and offer their apologies for the loss of their robot. Elise asks if they have any spare parts so they can try again… and Roland and Martin duct-tape her mouth shut and drag her away while the Autobots just watch… ''argh argh argh''…
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] (7)
* [[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] (18)
* [[Groove (G1)|Groove]] (19)
* [[Hot Spot (G1)|Hot Spot]] (20)
* [[Blades (G1)|Blades]] (21)
* [[Streetwise (G1)|Streetwise]] (22)
* [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (24)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (25)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (26)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (27)
* [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (28)
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (29)
|c2=
* [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] (1)
* [[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]] (2)
* [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] (3)
* [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]] (4)
* [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] (5)
* [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]] (6)
* [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (9)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (10)
* [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (11)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (12)
* [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (13)
* [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (30)
* [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (31)
|c3=
* [[El Presidente]] (8)
* [[Robbins]] (14)
* [[Martin and Roland|Roland]] (15)
* [[Martin and Roland|Martin]] (16)
* [[Elise Presser]] (17)

|c4=
* [[B.O.T. (robot)|B.O.T.]] (23)
}}

==Quotes==
[[File:BOT Swindle grabbed.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Until you can tell me what you mean by "brain" and "head", even you can't be trusted.]]
"Call sanitation. There's junk all over the street!"
:—'''Defensor''', leaving his mess for the humans to clean up. He's humanity's defender, not their maid.

"Megatron, I-I-I couldn't find Brawl's personality component! I didn't think it would ''matter''…"
:—'''Swindle'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s high opinion of his teammate.

[[File:BOT wet Gears.jpg|thumb|right|200px|You are so right.]]
"Here, munch a little lead!"
:—'''Ironhide''' just before spraying something that's not lead at B.O.T.

"This is so degrading."
:—'''Gears''' on being beaten by Brawl-B.O.T. Or he was talking about the episode itself?

"We should've just taken the 'F' in Science."
:—'''Martin''', not knowing that if they did, we probably would have been spared this horrendous episode.

"If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I'll melt you down for scrap [[tutonium]]!"
:—'''Megatron''' threatens Swindle with gibberish

==Notes==
{{quote|The episode "B.O.T." was one I always remembered from when I was young. But the thing is, I had just remembered the story focusing on Swindle selling off the other Combaticons, and I had totally mentally blocked out the whole school science project part of the story! Wow was I disappointed when I went back and watched that one!|[[Derrick J. Wyatt]]<ref>[http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/interviews-27/derrick-wyatt-interview-166415/ ''Transformers Animated'' Art Director Derrick Wyatt interview at TFW2005.com]</ref>}}

===Animation or technical errors===
* Argh.
[[Image:BOT Bumblebee tries door.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Either Bumblebee's shrunk to the size of a human, or that's one humongous coffee pot on the counter to his left.]]
* The scenery in this episode is always ''huge''. In the opening scene, the five Combaticons are driving down a downtown street in a row (yes, ''even the fliers are driving on the ground'') with plenty of room. Humans are drawn tiny compared to the doors of their own buildings, and the Autobots fit easily inside human structures.
* The Combaticons get the wrong transformation sound effect (ascending pitch) when transforming to their vehicle modes.
* Swindle's vehicle mode is missing its Decepticon symbol as he gets stuck against Brawl.
* It's inherent to their color models, but the combination sequence makes it ''really obvious'' that Onslaught completely changes color from blue to white while transforming into Bruticus.
* The Bruticus scrap pile changes between shots; first it's a few scattered parts on the street, then it's a solid pile of them.
* Swindle pops out of the junk pile from beneath a yellow rectangle with wheels. The only yellow component on Bruticus is… Swindle.
* As Swindle drives past the guy with the radio on the docks, he's layered too far to the left and appears to be hovering above the road.
* When Swindle transforms to meet with El Presidente, his gun attaches to the side of his right arm. In the next shot, it's attached to the ''front'' of his arm (its usual, correct location.) Then in the next shot, it's on the ''left'' arm.
* In Megatron's simulation, Astrotrain is completely off-model - he's got no cockpit, his sides are purple instead of gray, he's got some kind of side vents that shouldn't be there, and his nosecone covers the entire front of his shuttle mode.
* Skywarp's voice is a bit off - much more nasally than usual.
* There is no indication as to what jet-mode Starscream uses to capture jeep-mode Swindle.
* Swindle's eyes aren't colored as he apologizes to the Russians. In the same shot, we suddenly hear the ticking-clock sound of the bomb in his head, when it has been silent till now. It will continue to pop up randomly until Swindle completes his mission.
* In the lineup shot of the Combaticons, Onslaught is the same height as everybody else, instead of being taller. Swindle's cannon is missing.
* When the teacher addresses Martin and Roland, his desk is visible behind him. The books that were on it - which were prominently burned through by the laser a moment earlier - have vanished.
* Roland's mouth moves when Martin says "Aw, come on" - especially noticeable since Roland then goes on to speak his own line in the same shot.
* The voice that says "Stay calm!" doesn't actually belong to any of the Protectobots. It might be a "non-finalized" First Aid, who otherwise hasn't spoken yet. Hot Spot's voice is likewise not the version that would be settled on in Season 3.
* While the kids are constructing B.O.T in the lab, Elise's glasses are clear instead of blue in one of the shots.
* Brawl's personality component changes design several times between shots. In its main establishing shot, it's drawn as some sort of real-world electrical monitoring device, complete with gauges and buttons.
* When Elise says "Maybe I wired the box in wrong," one of her legs is drawn way too short, almost as if she's missing her right thigh.
* When Mr. Robbins turned on the laser, it shot a continuous beam. When Martin uses it on B.O.T., it fires bolts.
* The first two times we see the Ark, it has two engines rather than three.
* The "SOS" Gears receives is written in numbers rather than letters and isn't aligned to match the angle of Teletraan I's screen. Also, Gears is sitting in a human-looking chair we've never seen before.
* After threatening the dude at the junkyard, Swindle turns to leave, walking toward... the fence. He starts to clear some junk out of his way, but then the scene ends and we never find out if he realizes he's not walking toward the exit.
* The kids create and lose B.O.T. in the middle of the night. When the Autobots reach the school, it's bright and sunny outside. If this ''isn't'' an animation error, then we are forced to assume that Brawl-B.O.T. spent several hours not doing much at all, staying inside the school the whole time, while the kids waited for the Autobots to arrive.
* Gears' mouth isn't moving for the end of his "hunk of junk" line.
* Ironhide towers over the door to the kitchen, yet he fits inside a moment later. Three Autobots fit in the stairwell of the condemned building.
* As he delivers the line, "Well if that don't fry my circuits," Ironhide's left shoulder is missing.
* As everyone runs out of the kitchen, Ironhide clips through the door frame.
[[File:BFPierce High School.jpg|thumb|right|200px| ]]
* The first shot of the front of the school shows it with two arches, but when the group chases after B.O.T., it's one big rectangular opening. On a similar note, Gears describes the high school as a "one-level structure", but it's pretty clearly two stories.
* The empty building is, presumably, the burnt-out skyscraper from before.... but it's totally changed its appearance when B.O.T. takes refuge in it.
* The elevator in the condemned building has two rows of lights above it, but in the close-ups there's only one row (with 12 lights, far fewer than the thirty needed for the number of floors Bumblebee says are in the building).
* The top of Ironhide's torso is all red as he runs up the stairs, and again as he gives the order to stop firing. Most of it should be gray. (The same error happens ''again'' at Autobot Headquarters when the kids warn the Autobots about the disruptor attack.)
* The "shooting at nothing upstairs" bit might be attributed to animation/script mismatch. The animation puts the Autobots in a circular staircase so they are plainly shooting at the clearly-lit curved wall directly ahead of them. It's ''possible'' the writer intended them to be shooting up a straight staircase into darkness… but that's pure conjecture.
* "Boost me up" - Martin (or Roland, who can tell)'s mouth isn't moving.
* Starscream has blue eyes (instead of red) as Brawl's brain is restored.
* Swindle's cannon is back on the side of his arm (instead of the front) as Megatron throttles him.
* When Swindle stumbles back alongside the other Combaticons, Onslaught's forehead is colored yellow, like his visor.
* After he forms in Decepticon Headquarters, Bruticus's nose is colored the same red as his eyes, giving the effect of a visor.
* During a close-up, Elise's red VW Beetle becomes Swindle-colored (including a purple hood!), then changes back and remains red through the rest of the scene.
* When Ironhide turns to contact the Protectobots, the top of his shoulder is gray instead of red.
* When the Protectobots receive the signal, the lit-up part appears off to the side of the rest of the display.
[[File:BOT Protectobot HQ exterior.jpg|thumb|right|200px| ]]
* In a long, slow zoom-in on Protectobot headquarters, we have plenty of time to see that the front facade has a central hallway carved into it. Then when it lifts up for them to drive out, the entrance is a normal door.
* When the Combaticons combine at the beginning of the final battle, Vortex and Blast Off are [[Scramble City (toyline)|switched]].
* Optimus and the Autobots attack from a cliff, but a few seconds later Optimus is standing in front of the Ark.
* Wheeljack's [[gyro-inhibitor shell|gyro-inhibitor]] appears to fire out of the air next to his left ear. (Also, it's animated as some kind of energy wave instead of a shell-launched weapon; also also, it's not for shooting down missiles, but for destabilizing a robot's sense of balance.)
* It's not real clear who fired the missiles, either. Onslaught was the last guy we saw shooting, but he was shooting laser beams.
* When he takes on Starscream, Streetwise suddenly has a different, much deeper voice compared to the one he had last episode (and just a couple of scenes earlier!) The same voice delivers the line "Hot enough for you guys?" from off-screen, shortly before we cut to Hot Spot - so maybe that was supposed to be his voice... but it's not the same voice as ''his'' single line earlier in the episode, either.
* A wall appears behind Megatron and Soundwave as they face down Hot Spot in the middle of the desert.
* As Megatron transforms into gun mode, his shoulder rest appears and disappears - as does Soundwave's Decepticon symbol.
* Hot Spot's guns use the Decepticon laser sound effect.
* Hot Spot shoots Soundwave (carrying gun-mode Megatron), knocking him backwards into Brawl. In the next shot, Megatron transforms and lands nearby - and Brawl, who has already landed on Soundwave, comes flying in and lands on Megatron.
* As the Protectobots transform to Defensor, a huge wave of energy is shown (for no real reason).
* As Megatron orders Bruticus to fire the disruptor, his waist controls are colored in reverse (blue on the left and red on the right). This is corrected a few seconds later.
* Bruticus's gun disappears from his hand between shots as he runs to the cannon.
* As B.O.T. gains control of the disruptor, Megatron is far to the right of the other Decepticons, but a few shots later Soundwave and Ramjet are right behind him.
* Just before Soundwave is hit, he randomly lifts his left leg in the air.
* When the kids are watching B.O.T. on Teletraan's screen, the disruptor is no longer pointing to the left as it was before, and B.O.T. - who is supposed to be working the controls ''behind'' it - is now visible in front of it.

===Continuity errors===
[[Image:Combaticon pyramid.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The Combaticons unveil their new routine as the Polyhex Cowbots cheerleaders.]]
[[File:BOT Orbit Disruptor Cannon.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Megatron? Did you just build ''[[Masquerade|yet another]]'' [[Fire on the Mountain|giant immobile cannon]]? Seriously dude?]]
[[Image:BOT-Overload.jpg|right|200px|thumb|"I assure you, there is zero chance of this coming back to bite us!"]]
* ''Argh''.
* In the opening scene, why didn't the Combaticons just combine into Bruticus right away, rather than transforming to vehicles, driving like down the street for like two seconds, and ''then'' combining?
* Did Defensor really not see Swindle struggling out of the wreckage right in front of him?
* Swindle goes to El Presidente to ''buy'' parts to repair the other Combaticons. The next time we see them, he's ''sold'' the Combaticon parts— for ''what'', we don't know. There is no explanation as to why he suddenly completely changed his plan.
* As much fuss as Megatron makes over how much he wants Bruticus back, he sure doesn't act like it:
** Why does Megatron put a bomb in Swindle's head? If it goes off, he loses Bruticus for good.
** Why does Megatron have ''only'' Swindle go looking for the lost personality component?
** Fifteen hours seems like an impossibly tight deadline to track down dozens or hundreds of parts scattered ''all over the world'' (including the Middle East and Russia), retrieve them, reassemble them into complex high-tech robots, AND still have time left over to track down Brawl-B.O.T.
* How did Swindle know ''exactly'' where to find each and every Combaticon component across the globe once he sold them to ''El Presidente''?
* Just because Brawl is out of commission, the Combaticons have to form a robot-pyramid before becoming Bruticus. Why can't the other four just float up to their correct spots, like usual?
* The kids don't seem to recognize what Transformers are, but by this point in the series, they're internationally recognized, there are [[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1|holidays]] and [[Optimus Prime memorial|tributes to them]], etc. Despite this, they seem to instantly accept the existence of Transformers.
* Superhuman Elise:
** When B.O.T. is first activated, Elise is forcefully flung off the ladder by its arm. Somehow, she lands with only a soft thud and no real injuries.
* The Autobots seem to initially not understand what a high school is. This is in spite of the fact that they have been on Earth for a couple of years now and are friends with 3 school-aged humans, at least two of which (Carly and Chip) we ''know'' have a formal education.
* How did Swindle get above the Autobots on the way up? And how'd he get past them on the way down again?
* "Only Defensor can stand against Bruticus," says Optimus Prime... apparently forgetting that [[Superion (G1)|Superion]] did quite well against him just a few episodes back. And there's [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], too.
* Why did the Autobots do nothing while the Decepticons set up a gigantic cannon right outside their headquarters? They don't pop up and start shooting until the cannon is in place and Bruticus is assembled.
* The Autobots basically ''give up'' trying to beat the Decepticons, choosing to hide behind Defensor's force field. When the force field gives out, it would have been game over for the 'bots, if it weren't for Elise and the psycho twins.
* It's never really specified why Megatron specifically needs Bruticus to fire the cannon. If it's a size thing, he also has [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] and [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]]. The size thing is debatable because the cannon has a human-scaled control panel on it. Oy.
* On that note, the human-level control panel has a great big button clearly marked "Over Load" in English. Why did he install that?
** No, really, why?
* The disruptor cannon is supposed to be powerful enough to obliterate Autobot Headquarters and ''knock Earth's moon out of its orbit''. When it hits several of the Decepticons, it just knocks them into the air.
* Bruticus didn't notice B.O.T. fiddling with the controls right there in front of him?
* This episode was made.

===The surreal world of "B.O.T."===
* '''''Argh'''''.
[[Image:BOT-ModelReuse.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Me an' my friends are Jem girls, especially Jimmy "The Legbreaker" Cianciulli!]]
[[Image:Elpresidente.jpg|thumb|200px|right|"The medals? This one is for being evil. This one is for having an accent. This one, for beard-growing. This one, a reward for having the most medals."]]
* Mr. Robbins's class is made up of a ''very'' odd collection of students. The ''least'' odd are the two women who are just recolored character models from ''[[Jem]]'', [[Hasbro]]'s then-current cartoon-advertised foray into girls' fashion dolls. Towards the back, however, appear to be [[Auto-Bop|thugs in business suits.]]
* The classroom itself appears to be ''huge'' in the initial shot. And why don't the desks have table tops? Only one girl is taking notes, holding a bunch of paper in her lap. There are no backpacks to be seen. And as Roland and Martin walk out, there's only an arch in front of them (with no actual ''doors'' attached to it!).
* The class, by the way, lasts for about two minutes before the bell rings.
* "El Presidente" apparently just holds court on a docked ship in a port somewhere, selling missiles to whoever walks in the door.
* The teens completely fail to notice a hundred-story building that is almost completely engulfed in flames and surrounded by emergency vehicles until they hear somebody fifty stories up call for help.
* Groove claims to use liquid nitrogen to put out the fire. Liquid nitrogen evaporates at -198 °C (-320 °F), so it would completely boil away the second it hits the atmosphere.<ref>[[wikipedia:Liquid nitrogen|Liquid nitrogen at Wikipedia]]</ref> On top of that, liquid nitrogen is not pink. (In fairness, virtually ''no'' episode of the cartoon portrayed this accurately - see also "[[Divide and Conquer]]", "[[Quest for Survival]]", and "[[Triple Takeover]]".)
* Streetwise catches the two falling window-washers with his ''metal'' arms after they've fallen about fifty stories, and somehow they're not splattered all over him. [[Prime Target (episode)|Remember, kids:]] [[A Plague of Insecticons|If anything besides the ground]] [[War Dawn (episode)|breaks your fall,]] [[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2|you'll be just fine!]]
* Three high school kids can build a walking, fully articulated robot out of junk bits and Brawl's brain ''overnight'' that is ''stronger'' and ''smarter'' than the Autobots. (The latter would be a little more believable if it weren't for the "Brawl's brain" part.)
* "B.O.T." stands for '''B'''iotronic '''O'''perational '''T'''elecommunicator, as Martin spends several long minutes explaining to us. Even though this is supposed to describe what it does, at no point in the episode does B.O.T. ever communicate anything remotely, nor is he biomechanical.
* The high school's computer is astounding. It is exceedingly and hugely sci-fi in design, plus, how the kids were able to use it to send an SOS to the Autobots over the phone is… [[magic]] or something.
* Autobots are weaker than kitchenware: Gears carries a blaster that was made to injure or kill alien beings made entirely of metal, but it can't shoot through a pot lid.
* Similarly, B.O.T. somehow knocks over Gears, Ironhide and Bumblebee with a tray full of corn!
* Benjamin Franklin Pierce High School packs its hallways with some seriously heavy furniture - somehow it's heavy enough that Gears can't break through a stack of it.
* There is a fully functional elevator within a building that just suffered a ''massive'' fire. Shouldn't the power be shut off? Speaking of which, a wrecked building next to a high school seems like ''trouble''. Shouldn't it be boarded up, surrounded by security tape and guarded?
* The fully functional elevator appears to function well despite having a broken cable or two. Martin also spends an awfully long time just watching B.O.T. tearing up the cables.
* The speech synthesizer is "rewired" so that instead of "synthesizing and transmitting," it "receives and decodes". And this somehow lets the kids listen in on a conversation being held in the undersea Decepticon base… yeah, when this can almost be considered one of the episode's ''more'' plausible elements, something is very, very ''wrong''.
* The entire front of the Protectobots' headquarters just rotates up to let them depart. Wouldn't a simple garage door have sufficed? What if someone's walking down the sidewalk when this happens? ''Smack!''
* Apparently Roland and Martin carry duct tape around with them. Here, they use it to tape a girl's mouth shut. Who knows what they use it for the rest of the time!

===Real-world references===
* "Benjamin Franklin Pierce High School" is a reference to [[wikipedia:Hawkeye Pierce|Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce]], the character from ''[[wikipedia:M*A*S*H|M*A*S*H]]'' (who was also the inspiration for the [[Mini-Con]] [[Hawkeye]]'s bio).
* "We'll let the computer do the walking" refers to an ad slogan for the Yellow Pages - "Let your fingers do the walking!"
* ''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
** Sparking and clashing [[lightsaber]]s as Swindle zaps Brawl-B.O.T., and again as Soundwave restores Brawl's brain.

===Continuity notes===
[[File:BrawlPersonalityComponent.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Brawl's brain. Brawl is apparently operated by a tiny dude who sits inside his head.]]
* This episode establishes that the Combaticons have their [[Combaticons' headquarters|own separate base]], as do [[Protectobots' headquarters|the Protectobots]]. As this was the last episode before the jump to 2005, this is never touched on again.
* The billboard over the [[Protectobots' headquarters|Protectobots' urban headquarters]] seems to be advertising for [[E Cola]]. Mmmmmmm. Another advertisement for the beverage would appear years later in the Japanese series, ''[[Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (cartoon)|Super-God Masterforce]]'', in the episode "[[Heroism!! The Birth of Super Ginrai]]".
* Skywarp lives up to a little-used note in his bio, which states that he would be "useless without Megatron's supervision."
* Starscream says to Megatron "''Your'' stupid warrior" in reference to Bruticus, but Starscream was the one who made him.
* Personality components make a second appearance. Unlike in "[[The Revenge of Bruticus]]", they're a physical piece of metal hardware.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Starscream somehow snatches Jeep-mode Swindle into the air while in jet mode.
** Groove can retract his wrist and fire liquid nitrogen out of it. It's a foamy pink stuff this time.
** Ironhide shoots some brown goopy stuff that he claims is lead out of his retracted wrist.
** Wheeljack's gyro-inhibitor is now an energy beam that can blow up missiles.

===Trivia===
[[File:BOT MrRobbins.jpg|thumb|right|200px|You think high school teachers get paid too much? This poor guy proves that you are so, so wrong.]]
[[File:Bot-episode-closingshot.jpg|thumb|right|200px|And on that jovial note, we end Season 2. See you in the theaters [[1986|this summer]], kids, where we'll all die [[The Transformers: The Movie|abrupt, violent deaths]]!]]
* '''''Argh'''''.
* This episode introduces the most loathsome ''Transformers'' characters ever, Roland and Martin. Boosting a laser to a level that could grievously injure or kill someone as a ''prank'', the misogynistic duct-taping of Elise's mouth and constantly dragging her places against her will, and a general smarmy smugness level that makes Starscream seem humble.
* This episode was lampooned at the [[BotCon 2006]] [[MSTF]] presentation, and as far as the writers are concerned, it is the single ''dumbest'' episode in the entirety of ''Transformers'' animation.
* It is also possibly the worst advertisement for the combiner teams possible. Bruticus is destroyed with ''a single shot'' from Defensor, and later stumbles around like a concussed baby as the Autobots shoot at him. Defensor's force field is rendered utterly pointless as the Decepticons just wait for it to run out (no more than 20 seconds), then he too is blasted to bits with ease.
* Production-wise, it seems a bit odd to have three Season One Autobots respond to the kids' SOS, rather than showcasing the brand-new combiner team who would otherwise seem to be the spotlight buy-my-toy characters of the episode (this is even flagged up in the episode itself, when the kids try to CALL the Protectobots for help!) The cause is presumably the same last-minute shoehorning that got the Protectobots into "[[The Revenge of Bruticus]]".
* The original script's cast list for the episode notes that the "junkyard operator" is a spy, and that the only other thing we learn about him is that he gets taken away by the "Federal Authorities". Oh, and he has no lines.<ref>[[Metrodome]]'s Season 3 & 4 DVD set extras</ref> This bizarre plot twist obviously didn't make it into the final draft, but really, what's one more wad of nonsense at this point?
* This was the last episode of season two. Can you imagine if this was the last episode of ''The Transformers'' ever?
* Good God, I need a stiff drink.

===Foreign localization===

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''Giovani inventori'''" ("Young Inventors")
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''B.O.T.'''"
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Bruticus no Fukkatsu'''" (ブルーティカスの復活, "The Revival of Bruticus")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 5]], [[1986]]

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2: Vol. 8 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 3: Series 2.2 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 06: Stagione Due Parte Quarta ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part Two (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume Two: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bot (episode)}}
[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]
[[Category:MSTF]]

Transform and Roll Out

2009-12-14T16:55:55Z

JudgeDeadd:

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=TFA_TFandRollout_AutobotHeroes.jpg
|caption=''Epic''
|next=Home Is Where the Spark Is
|ep=1, 2 and 3
|next=Home Is Where the Spark Is
|title="Transform and Roll Out"
|airdate=[[December 26]], 2007
|written by=[[Marty Isenberg]]
|directed by= [[Matt Youngberg]] [[Yutaka Kagawa]] [[Minoru Yamaoka]] [[Makoto Fuchigami]]
|animation studio= [[Mook]]}}
'''When a small crew of maintenance Autobots comes into possession of the powerful AllSpark, a battle with their long-forgotten enemies sends them crashing toward a strange, distant planet known as... ''Earth.'''''

:''German Title:'' "'''Transformieren und Abfahrt'''"
:''Polish Title:'' "'''Transformacja i jazda'''" ("Transform and Roll Out")

==Synopsis==
===Part 1===
In deep, deep space, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] watches [[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1|some old]] [[War Dawn|history videos]], prompting [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] to complain about him watching that "junk" when the other members of the crew need assistance. Prime wonders if they were designed for more than repairing [[Space bridge|space bridges]]. The two 'Bots transform into their vehicle modes and head out into the asteroid field.

[[Image:TFA TFandRollout TheAllsparkdiscovered.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Well... at least there's no mass-shifting.]]
Outside, [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]], dangling from a high rock by his wrecking ball (and becoming quite queasy in the process), is freed by [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]], who also ends up taking a tumble. Bumblebee complains about the sheer amount of rocks blocking the space bridge node, and one is shattered unexpectedly by [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]]'s throwing star. Prime gives his troops a speech about teamwork (which Prowl moans at theatrically), but at that point the space bridge lights up, sending rocks and Autobots flying. Fancy footwork by Optimus saves each of his teammates from the debris, and a well-aimed grappling line shuts down the bridge. With his subordinates stunned at their leader's skills, Prime is forced to admit he trained at [[Autobot Academy|Cybertron's military academy]]. Bumblebee's query as to what the hell he's doing on a nowhere maintenance assignment is left unanswered as they notice something glowing in the rubble.

Prime clears away the debris to reveal a large, chest-like object. Ratchet is horrified and immediately demands they throw it back into the space bridge, but an alert from [[Teletran 1]] announces the arrival of a signature consistent with the long-lost [[Decepticon|Decepticons]]. Ratchet then insists they take the object and just get out of there post-haste.

[[Image:TFA TFandRollout Decepticonship.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Yes, this is a scout ship. Way to go, Magnanimous.]]
On board [[Autobot ship (Animated)|their ship]], Ratchet finally reveals what they've found: the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]], the source of all Transformer life that was lost centuries ago. Optimus, worried about the oncoming Decepticon signal, contacts the [[Cybertron Elite Guard]] for help. After taking a bit of snark from [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], Optimus reveals what they found, which shuts Sentinel up fast. Sentinel then puts the crew through to [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], who tells Optimus Prime to stay put while they send reinforcements... and not to worry about that Decepticon thing. Optimus, considering this to be a really stupid move, orders the crew to start booking it out of there.

[[Image:Ani crew.JPG|left|200px|thumb|Scotty, engage!]]
This proves wise, as the signal is indeed a Decepticon ship—a [[Nemesis (Animated)|command ship]], in fact. The identification markings are ones that Optimus and Ratchet recognize, meaning its commander can only be one person: [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], leader of the Decepticons. On board the Decepticon ship, [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] doubts the AllSpark is aboard the Autobot ship and declares Megatron a fool. [[Lugnut]] denounces Starscream as a traitor, while [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] calls Lugnut an idiot for his blind loyalty and [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] just acts... well, crazy. The Decepticons continue to bicker at each other until Megatron enters, shutting up all of them. The Decepticons chase the Autobot ship, and Starscream volunteers to board them. Megatron quickly shoots that idea down. Just before he leaves, Starscream wishes his commander "luck" with a pat on the back... affixing a bomb to Megatron in the process.

Megatron makes his way to the Autobots' ship and begins to melt his way through its hull. Optimus uses external manipulator arms to grapple with Megatron, until the bomb detonates, sending the ship careening uncontrollably into a space bridge node, which explodes after they go through the gate. Starscream begins to make a speech declaring himself the new Decepticon leader, but the other three have abandoned ship, noting that the fireball from the space bridge explosion is only getting larger. Too late, Starscream realizes the trouble he's in...

An unknown distance away, the Autobot ship reappears above a [[Earth|small blue and green planet]]. Prime checks on his troops, but Megatron has gotten aboard, having survived the explosion, but at the cost of his right arm. Prime uses his grappling line to shut off the gravity, making it more difficult for Megatron to fight. All five Autobots face off against the Decepticon, but he's too strong (though Prowl does manage to cut off Megatron's damaged arm). Prime and Megatron both end up in the storage bay where the AllSpark is... and as the ship enters the atmosphere, Prime is able to blow the hatch and kick the screaming Megatron out of the ship.

[[Image:TFA TFandRollout Arkatmosphere.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Oddly familiar.]]
On a small farm, a young boy hears a thud and runs to where something has landed in a not-too-distant field. He is shocked to find a robotic head staring lifelessly up at him.

Meanwhile, Prime orders his team into emergency stasis pods to prepare for a crash-landing. He manages to steer the ship away from the city below and gets to a stasis pod just before the ship plunges into [[Lake Erie]].

Fifty years later, [[Detroit]] is once again a thriving city, but instead of manufacturing automobiles, robots are the city's stock-in-trade. [[Isaac Sumdac]] is talking to a public school class taking a tour of his facilities, which gets interrupted by Isaac's daughter, [[Sari Sumdac]], and her robot dog, [[Sparkplug (robot dog)|Sparkplug]]. As Sari is carted off to her lessons by a [[Tutorbot|robot tutor]], Isaac shows the school kids a nanotech lab, just in time to witness a roach infused with microbots grow out of control and start consuming everything in sight. Isaac tries to keep things calm, but the monster bursts out of the lab...

===Part 2===
[[Image:TFA TFandRollout Firefighters monster.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Yeah, watering it will surely stop the beast.]]
The monster continues to grow, absorbing just about everything it touches to increase its size and power. In the process, it destroys a lot of the factory. [[Captain Fanzone]], the S.W.A.T team, the fire department, ambulances, and robot drones arrive, but the creature absorbs several of the responding vehicles, too. Fanzone uses a bazooka-type weapon and destroys the beast, despite Sumdac's objection. This protest proves well-founded, as the remnants of the creature start flowing back together again, save for one piece that drops into the nearby lake and works its way down to the Autobots' ship, its nanites seeking the absorbable technology there. It infiltrates via a small breach in the outer hull, but thankfully, the ship's intruder alert systems are functional and awaken the Autobots before any damage is done. Examining the situation, they decide to have Teletran 1 give them Earth forms so they can blend in and help out. A probe is launched into the chaos and scans various vehicles, including an [[Ratchet (Animated)|ambulance]], a [[Prowl (Animated)|police motorbike]], an [[Bulkhead (Animated)|armored personnel carrier]], a [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|fire truck]], and [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Captain Fanzone's car]]. Everyone deploys except Ratchet, who remains behind to analyze the sample of alien material.

[[Image:TFA TFandRollout Autobots.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Avengers, ASSEMBLE!]]
During the fight, Bulkhead and Bumblebee spot Sari trying to wrest her security key from Sparkplug's mouth. Mistaking which is owner and which is pet, they approach her, but Bulkhead's greeting only scares her away. She quickly gets nabbed by the monster, but Bumblebee saves her, earning her trust and friendship. Prowl attempts to take on the bug-slug by himself, against Prime's orders, and gets absorbed. Prime orders Ratchet to join them in battle to save Prowl, but the old veteran insists that finding a "cure" code to neutralize the nanites' programming makes more sense than coming out and getting trashed. A somewhat chastened Prime agrees, and Ratchet soon delivers the goods. However, the new program must be uploaded by direct contact—meaning from inside the monster. This means the smallest, fastest one of them has to do it. Bumblebee reluctantly takes on the task. The beast has been using some of Prowl's absorbed intelligence and comm link tech, though, so it knows what they're planning and is now smart enough to fight back. Despite this, Bumblebee succeeds in delivering the code, and the bug dissolves into a dusty shower of deactivated nanites. Prowl is soon uncovered, but he's suffered grave wounds and must be taken back to the Autobots' ship for repairs. Sari pesters Bumblebee to be taken along, and her new friend reluctantly agrees, since there's no time to make her go away quietly.

[[Image:TFA TFandRollout Sari followedmehome.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Bumblebee, having a pet is a big responsibility.]]
Once on board, Sari's refusal to stay still and quiet causes 'Bee some embarrassment. He quickly and discreetly ejects her into a ventilation port and joins the others. However, the port opens onto a shaft that takes Sari right to the chamber where the AllSpark is being kept. Curious, she touches it, and it reacts to her, sending its energies into her security card key and reconfiguring it into [[AllSpark Key|a key of another sort entirely]]. Prime finds her almost immediately thereafter, but with no time left to spare away from Prowl, he has to bring her back with him to the repair table. Ratchet's prognosis is bleak, but the [[AllSpark Key]] abruptly reacts, glowing and tugging her toward Prowl. Bumblebee, seeming to grasp what's happening, helps her onto the table, and as she approaches, her Key reshapes itself to fit into a slot on Prowl's chest. She inserts it, and with a burst of energy, the Autobot ninja is whole again. The Autobots then take Sari home and, after a brief misunderstanding, are made heroes and are even invited to a ceremony.

In outer space, Starscream sits aboard the damaged but functional Decepticon ship, babbling that he will find the AllSpark, even though he's been attempting it on his own for the last fifty solar cycles. The ship's computers then detect the traces of AllSpark-like energy in action, and Starscream learns where the Autobots are...

===Part 3===
[[Image:Sariprime.jpg|right|150px|thumb|INSERT WHAT WHERE?!]]
The Autobots are later seen trying to fit in. Bulkhead gets firsthand experience in traffic jams, some birds mistake Prowl for the statue of the [[wikipedia:Hazen_S._Pingree|bald guy]] next to him, Bumblebee learns how organics fuel up, and Ratchet can't get a stasis nap without getting a dozen or so parking tickets. Optimus Prime remarks that the Autobots are programmed to respect life, which they always understood to stem from the AllSpark, but as organics are life, they must respect and protect them too. Optimus also expresses curiosity about how little organics are made. Sari's whispered explanation leaves him rather... shocked. The Autobots make a new home base out of a building Sari's dad got out of a merger, an abandoned auto factory that Bumblebee describes as a real fixer-upper—a REAL fixer-upper. All of a sudden, they get alerted to a fire. The Autobots proceed to douse the blaze and save its victims, no problem, unaware they are being watched by Starscream.

The next day, during the inauguration ceremony for the Sumdac [[Fully Automated Rapid Transit System]] (F.A.R.T.S., for short), Starscream enters Earth's atmosphere and takes on a group of fighter jets. He destroys all but one, which he scans. As the civilians and Autobots watch the aerial display of the [[Crimson Angels]], Isaac Sumdac notices there is an extra jet present that he didn't hire. That one jet then leaves the formation and streaks toward the ceremony platform, where it transforms into Starscream, who fires his null-ray cannons at the Autobots.

After a short fight, which the Autobots lose, Starscream knocks out Bumblebee and takes him, Isaac, the mayor, and Capt. Fanzone hostage in the F.A.R.T.S. train, flying it to the top of a very tall tower. He demands that the Autobots deliver the AllSpark if they want him to release the train car. The Autobots don't trust him, but don't want to risk human lives, so Sari offers a plan, but they ignore her. She continues to tell a sob story until the Autobots listen. The Autobots proceed with her plan, and Prowl and Sari fly up to the transit pod to rescue the hostages while the other Autobots keep Starscream busy. Once Starscream realizes what's happening, he takes a brief beating but recovers quickly. Starscream then throws the train—thus keeping his end of the deal—with Sari, Prowl, and Bumblebee on top of/in it. Between Bumblebee's agility and Prowl's thrusters, Sari is rescued and the train lands without much damage. The Autobots then challenge Starscream to a friendly game of Keep Away, during which Starscream almost gets the AllSpark, but Bulkhead gets it instead, because he said he got it. A furious Starscream unleashes a devastating, prolonged (as in nearly 12 seconds) null-ray blast on the Autobots, briefly knocking them all senseless.

[[Image:TFA TFandRollout Prime SS Allsparkactivates.jpg|left|150px|thumb|In the old days, The Touch would have started playing now.]]
With the Autobots down, Starscream takes the AllSpark from Optimus and blows a couple of blocks of Detroit right off the map. Not ready to give up, Optimus climbs all the way up a building to get it back from Starscream, which Starscream doesn't see coming because he was too busy gloating. After a quick back-and-forth exchange of possessing it, both grab it at the same time. As they struggle, the AllSpark opens and emits a strange energy wave that blasts Starscream away.

The explosion has left Prime dangling precariously, and he takes a tremendous plummet to the pavement. He notes weakly that he now knows what it feels like to be a hero, then dies, but Sari uses the AllSpark Key to revive him.<ref>[[The many deaths of Optimus Prime|This is something of an Optimus Prime record]]: Dead after only three episodes, revived a mere 75 seconds later. Way to go.</ref> The Autobots later go about fixing up Detroit, earning the enduring gratitude of the citizenry. Professor Sumdac is also grateful, for the Autobots saved him and Sari, but he fears what will happen if the Autobots—not to mention the rest of the world—were to discover the source of his robotic empire.

Unseen by Sumdac, one of the [[Sensors|optics]] of his source of technology glows in a darkened room. Megatron still functions...

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters|
c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (1)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (2)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (3)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (4)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (5)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (6)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (7)

|c2=
*[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] (8)
*[[Lugnut]] (9)
*[[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] (10)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (11)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (12)

|c3=
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (13)
*[[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|Daniel]] (14)
*[[Spike Witwicky (Animated)|Spike]] (15)
*[[Carly Witwicky (Animated)|Carly]] (16)
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (17)
*[[Captain Fanzone]] (18)

|c4=
*[[Teletran-1]] ()
*[[Sparkplug (robot dog)|Sparkplug]] ()
*[[Tutor Bot]] ()
*[[Burger Bot]] ()}}

==Quotes==
"Do you ever get the feeling that you were programmed for something more than just repairing space bridges?" 
"I got a diagnostics program that can delete that feeling like a bad line of code."
:—'''Optimus Prime''''s dreams are crushed to a fine powder by '''Ratchet'''

"Wow, Megatron, you're even uglier at this angle!"
:—'''Bumblebee''' is about to realize there are some things you should never, EVER, say to a Decepticon.

"Hi, I'm Bumblebee!" 
"I'm Sari." 
''(thinking she said I'm sorry)'' "Oh, don't be, I like my name."
:—'''Bumblebee''' and '''Sari''' are off to an awkward start.

"Y'know, all things considered, fixin' space bridges wasn't such a bad gig."
:—'''Bumblebee''', just before embarking on the plan to dissolve the bug monster

"Uh...am I going to be able to ''breathe'' down there?" 
"Oh, sure! ...What's 'breathe'?"
:—'''Sari''' is in good hands with '''Bumblebee'''

"And to think, Ultra Magnus told me not to be a hero. Is this what it was like in your day?" 
"The Decepticons didn't leave us very much to cheer about."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Ratchet''' at the ceremony

"Enjoy it while you can, 'heroes.' You're about to take a fall."
:—'''Starscream''', watching a news report on the Autobots

"Give up the AllSpark or give up the Earth. How am I supposed to decide?" 
"Heroes are the ones who make the hard choices."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Ratchet''' after Starscream makes his ultimatum

"Let go, Autobot!" 
"Never! The AllSpark is life!" 
"Then, let it end yours!"
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Optimus Prime''', fighting over the AllSpark

"So, this... is what it feels like... to be a hero."
:—'''Optimus Prime''', just before dying

"Fixing bridges? Isn't this where we started out?"
:—'''Bumblebee''', as the Autobots clean-up the city

==Home releases==
[[Image:Animatedshort01.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Meet the Press lives on through our young ones.]]
"Transform and Roll Out" was released to DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment on June 17, 2008. The DVD includes all three episodes of the pilot movie and two all-new animated shorts. [[Career Day|The first short]] features Optimus Prime attempting to give a speech at [[Black River Elementary School]]'s career day, but being repeatedly interrupted by nagging questions from [[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|some little kid]] and overwhelming cheers for him to transform. [[Evel Knievel Jump|The second]] features Bumblebee messing up one of Prowl's cool stunts. Together, the two shorts run just under three minutes.

Target sold an [[exclusive]] version of the DVD with a special bonus disc that included the episode "[[Home Is Where the Spark Is]]."

All three episodes were also condensed and re-told in the [[IDW]] paperback "cine-manga" style book ''[[Transformers Animated Volume 1]]''.
{{-}}

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* Megatron's vehicle mode was depicted flying upside-down, or backwards, or possibly both. To be fair, in space, there is no up and down (and to be even fairer, it's really hard to tell from the toys exactly what ''is'' the front of Megatron's Cybertronian spaceship mode), but that does not excuse the fact that any propulsion system used would be in the ''back'' of the mode.

*When the Autobot get into the stasis pods, Prime, Bulkhead, and Ratchet are on the left side, with Bumblebee, Prowl, and an empty pod on the right, in that order. Yet when they get out later in the episode, Prime, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead are on the left, and the empty one, Prowl, and Ratchet on the right.

* As pre-Earth Prime enters the chamber which will re-format his body into his Earth mode, he walks past Ratchet, who is drawn mostly in his pre-Earth mode, except for the fact that his Cybertronian gut is replaced with his ambulance gut. In the next scene, Ratchet is properly drawn, pre-Earth gut and all.

* When Sari says to the Autobots it is okay to put down their hands, Bulkhead's face is black.

* When Starscream tackles Optimus Prime through a building as the Autobot tries to escape with the AllSpark, Optimus's axe is missing from Starscream's left wing. It reappears moments later for Optimus to retrieve it.

* In at least one scene, Starscream's Earth-form wing is shown with a spike, in the same manner as his Cybertronian body.

===Continuity errors===
* The train Starscream blasts from the tower falls toward the ground very, very slowly.

* When we first meet Starscream, he states that he has been searching for the AllSpark for fifty ''solar'' cycles. In later episodes, a solar cycle is equivalent to a day and a ''stellar'' cycle is used for years. This is the only time a solar cycle has been used to reference years, so either Starscream entered some sort of temporal anomaly or someone messed up. For more <s>confusion</s> information, See [[Cycle|this page]].

* Sumdac is using Megatron's hand as a chair. However, he seems to be using the right hand, which was blown up by Starscream. (It ''could'' have fallen off the Autobots' ship, as it was still clinging to the hull when last seen, but that seems unlikely.)

===Transformers references===
* The title of the episode itself is a [[Roll out|reference to past Transformers lore]].

* Footage from the [[Generation 1 (cartoon)|G1 cartoon]] episodes "[[War Dawn]]" and "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1|More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]" is used as history tapes detailing the events of the first [[Great War (Animated)|Great War]], millions of years prior. [[Canon|This]] has been confirmed as purely an in-joke, and should not be taken as linking ''Animated'' to G1, continuity wise.

* The [[Teletran 1|Autobot ship]] here bears a distinct resemblance to the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], albeit with a colour scheme more reminiscent of [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]. (As we learn [[A Bridge Too Close, Part II|much later]], there is [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|a very good reason for that]].)

* Sari's robotic dog [[Sparkplug (robot dog)|Sparkplug]] is likely named after either [[Sparkplug Witwicky]] from G1, the ''Armada'' Mini-Con [[Sparkplug (Armada)|Sparkplug]], or both.

[[Image:Spikecarlydanielanimated.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Twenty years later, and they're still overdressed.]]
* Characters resembling [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]], [[Carly Witwicky (G1)|Carly]], and [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]] are seen at a hot dog stand, purchasing some sort of futuristic bunless wieners-on-a-stick. The characters went on to become recurring figures in the background cast of the show.

* When Optimus Prime dies, his body fades to grays, just as [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Generation 1 Optimus Prime]] did in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''. His spark chamber opens in much the same manner as well.

* Teletran 1 (spelled with only one "a" in this universe) dispatches a small satellite very similar to the [[Sky Spy]] satellite used on occasion by the Autobots in the ''Generation 1'' cartoon. The glowing energy "boxes" with which it scans vehicles for the Autobots to transform into are lifted wholesale out of "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]".

* At one point, Bulkhead refers to Optimus as "Boss-bot", echoing an epithet used for ''[[Beast Wars (franchise)|Beast Wars]]'' [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] by the [[Fuzor]] [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]].

===Trivia===
* In this episode, [[Tutor Bot]] tries to teach Sari about the [[wikipedia:Smoot-Hawley_Tariff_Act|Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act]], a major economic blunder of the 1930s.
* Bumblebee's voice is slightly different in this episode from how it sounds later, as is Lugnut's voice, which seems very metallic.
* When Prowl gets birdpooped on, he is standing next to a statue of [[wikipedia:Hazen_S._Pingree|Hazen S. Pingree]], four-term mayor of Detroit and one-time governor of Michigan. In real life, the statue is located in Detroit's Grand Circus Park.
* A refurbished Michigan Central Station makes an appearance as the site for the dedication of Detroit's rapid transit system. The real-life station (abandoned since the '80s) was featured in the [[Transformers (2007)|2007 live-action movie]].
* When mocking the Autobots, Starscream actually calls Megatron "the great Megatron" without any sarcasm. Apparently, he'll only give a sincere compliment to his leader when he's insulting something else. Either that or he's just trying to make ''himself'' sound more impressive by building up the reputation of the one he's defeated.
* When Optimus comes back to life, he asks, "Is this the [[Well of All Sparks]]?" and Sari answers, "No, it's Detroit." This is an allusion to the movie ''Field of Dreams'', in which Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) asks Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner), "Is this Heaven?" and Ray answers, "No, it's Iowa."
* According to responses at a panel at BotCon 2008, the unfortunate acronym for Fully Automated Rapid Transit System was totally unintentional...which makes it that much funnier.
* Ratchet is able to use his front windshield as a video screen.
* Several elements present in this opener were changed/dropped in the main series, including expressive vehicle modes, the replacement of solar cycles with stellar cycles in terminology and the recolouring of Ratchet's magnetism from yellow to pink. However, the expressions on vehicle mode were briefly used again by [[Wasp]] in the episode [[Predacons Rising]].
* During [[Sari Sumdac|Sari's]] "conversation" with the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]], it shows her the faces of Ultra Magnus, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Starscream, then the Cybertronian [[Alternate mode|vehicle modes]] for Optimus and Ratchet, the AllSpark's case and the [[Autobot ship (Animated)|Autobots' ship]]. Then Sari unknowingly shows the AllSpark a man in a suit, a woman, a boy, the planet [[Earth]], pyramids, purple flowers, a horse, an aircraft with a giant cloud coming from the back, a cell and a DNA strand. The woman has dark skin and red hair like Sari.
* This movie was (lovingly) lampooned at the [[MSTF]] panel for [[BotCon 2008]], along with "[[War Dawn]]", the episode from which most of the "history vid" footage was taken.
* It's Detroit. There are guns everywhere. Why are the humans using ''water'' to take down the monster?
* In this episode, Starscream's engines use a sound effect borrowed from ''The Phantom Menace'': the sound made by Sebulba's podracer engines.

== Footnote ==
<references/>

[[Category:Animated episodes]]
[[Category:MSTF]]

Total Meltdown

2009-12-14T16:54:43Z

JudgeDeadd:

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=TFA Total Meltdown entrance.JPG
|caption=What if Mr. Freeze and Clayface had a baby...?
|ep=5
|title="Total Meltdown"
|airdate=[[January 19]], 2008
|written by=[[Rich Fogel]]
|directed by=[[Matt Youngberg]] [[Naoto Hashimoto]]
|animation studio= [[Mook]]}}

'''A bio-engineering genius experiments with some of Bumblebee's hydraulic fluid and accidentally transforms himself into Meltdown, whose corrosive touch can melt anything—including Autobots!'''

:''German title:'' "'''Der Säureangriff'''" ("The Acid Attack")
:''Polish title:'' "'''Wielkie roztopienie'''" ("Great Meltdown")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:TFA Total Meltdown Bumblebee Rhodes inside.JPG|left|200px|thumb|Rhodes admires his new ''Masterpiece'' Bumblebee.]]

[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus]], [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]], [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] are observing human society by way of [[television]]. After seeing cars being refueled and demolition derbies, they find a wrestling show hosted by businessman [[Meltdown (Animated)|Prometheus Black]] as part of his biochemical makeover program (or as Prime puts it, human upgrades). As a demonstration of the upgrades' success, one of his test subjects will be fighting a robot in the ring. To the Autobots shock, the robot is [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]]! To their greater shock, Bumblebee's puny opponent, [[Colossus Rhodes|Cyrus "Colossus" Rhodes]], activates special pistons on his back that stimulate special steroids in his system, causing him to swell into a muscular bruiser bigger than Bumblebee.

[[Image:TFA Total Meltdown Bumblebee Rhodes outside.JPG|right|200px|thumb|Smooookke on the pavement!]]

As 'Bee takes a beating, Black converses with [[Carmine Fanzone|Captain Fanzone]] in the luxury box. Black believes that this display should prove that he, not Isaac Sumdac, deserves the Detroit Police Department's security materials contract, offering bio-enhanced officers over robotic drones. Then Bumblebee starts using his speed and stingers to get the better of his overgrown opponent. Enraged, Rhodes stimulates the steroids further, growing even huger, then scoops up Bumblebee and chucks him out through the arena wall. He then leaps outside after the small 'bot and starts tossing and smashing everything around to crush 'Bee. The other Autobots arrive and, thanks to Prowl's quick thinking, manage to stop Rhodes. However, during the battle, Bumblebee has become more and more sensitive to size-related comments, taking them personally. Bulkhead's ribbing doesn't help. Across the parking lot, a disgusted Fanzone denies Black the police contract; as much as he hates machines, he'll take them over a berserk, bio-enhanced gorilla. As Black fumes, he discovers a piece of Bumblebee, covered in the Autobot's internal fluids, at his feet, and takes it back to his lab for research.

[[Image:TFA Total Meltdown Black mutation.JPG|left|200px|thumb|IT BURNS US! IT BURNS US!]]

At the lab, Black combines Bumblebee's fluid sample with his own special steroids, creating an incredibly powerful acid. However, his financier, [[Porter C. Powell]], informs him that, owing to the bad publicity from the wrestling match, his investors have cut all their funding and not even prisons will give him test subjects any more, leaving him no way to continue his research. Furious, he knocks over the containers of his experimental fluid, swearing he'll take matters into his own hands if he must. The acid starts melting through a good portion of his lab, with the fumes setting off alarms. Black stumbles through the fumes, half-blinded, and begins mutating, his flesh developing a greenish, flowing patina. He then emerges from his lab, swearing vengeance, his hand melting a portion of the door jamb where he gripped it.

[[Image:TFA Total Meltdown drone explosion.JPG|right|200px|thumb|We have hereby filled our [[Michael Bay|Bay]] quota.]]

Later, [[Isaac Sumdac|Professor Sumdac]] unveils the newest model of the Sumdac Systems [[Police drone|Police Drone]] to a rather bored audience of local dignitaries, promising, among other things, that its new recognition software will prevent a recurrence of "that unfortunate incident with the captain's wife." The drone malfunctions badly and explodes, and an angry Fanzone demands the apologetic Sumdac contact them after the bugs are fixed. [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] then discovers a portion of the drone covered in a greenish residue and takes it to Ratchet, who confirms that it indicates sabotage. The corrosive even melts Autobot alloys, so he requests a few hours to run tests on it. Bumblebee is impatient, drawing more "short" jokes from Bulkhead and even Prowl. Sari insists that the banter can wait, as her dad has to be warned first. Most of the Autobots leave for the Sumdac Tower.

However, Black, now fully mutated and calling himself Meltdown, has already arrived. He melts his way past the robot secretary, with the resulting smoke setting off an alarm, and starts on his way up. As Sumdac wonders what the noise is about, Sari contacts him from within Bumblebee and tells him about the sabotage. Isaac wonders who would sabotage him, then gets his answer as Meltdown dissolves the door.

[[Image:TFA Total Meltdown Bulkhead stuck.JPG|left|200px|thumb|Winnie-the-Pooh pulled this off a lot better.]]

Outside, Sari warns Bumblebee a bit too late to keep him from running into a force field, the result of the tower's auto-defense mode. Ratchet's magnetics open a hole in the field, but Colossus Rhodes shows up to keep the Autobots occupied. His old weak spot's been reinforced now, so Prowl's previous strategy won't work. Prime orders Prowl and Bumblebee to go into the tower with Sari and save her father, but Rhodes knocks Bulkhead into the force field hole, plugging it before Prowl can get through. Bumblebee and Sari are on their own.

In the tower, Bumblebee finds the elevator cables melted, so he wheels his way up the shaft while Sari tries to deactivate the force field from the front desk. In Sumdac's office, Meltdown gives vent to all his frustrations, swearing he won't be bested by a fraud like Sumdac, even though he himself is a freak now. Downstairs, Sari finds the force field controls, but her first attempt to deactivate it only makes it stronger. Back upstairs, Bumblebee arrives just in time to knock Meltdown aside, scoop up Isaac and burn rubber. Meltdown's pursuit forces Bumblebee to drive down the stairs, badly shaking up Sumdac, but they reach the ground floor safely. Meanwhile, Sari finally finds the right data port for the [[AllSpark Key]] and shuts down the force field, freeing Bulkhead.

Bumblebee and her father arrive in the lobby just ahead of Meltdown, who has taken a shortcut by...er, melting his way down. Bulkhead arrives and grabs him up, but finds a handful of acid is VERY painful. Still, he refuses to let go.

Outside, Rhodes smacks Prime into a nearby church bell, then seizes up when it rings. Realizing what's going on, Prowl calls for Prime to hit it again. As Prime plays Quasimodo, Ratchet brings the bell down on top of Rhodes, thoroughly disrupting the bruiser's techno-organic circuits and bringing him back to normal (and probably deafening him).

[[Image:TFA Total Meltdown imprisoned.JPG|right|200px|thumb|"What a incredible smell you've discovered!"]]

Back in the tower lobby, Meltdown works a hand free and prepares to blast Bulkhead in the face, but Bumblebee takes the shot. As both Autobots collapse, Meltdown approaches Professor Sumdac yet again, but Prime runs up and clocks Meltdown with the church bell. It doesn't prove effective, but Prime quickly suggests stopping him with the one thing that stopped the Autobots: the tower's force field. Sari reactivates it, Ratchet plugs himself into the console to project the field, and Meltdown finds himself contained, unable to melt what he can't touch.

Afterward, Ratchet and Prime praise Bumblebee's courage and Bulkhead apologizes for going a little overboard with his teasing. Bumblebee's learned that even at his size, he's still pretty awesome, but now he won't let the others live it down for a while.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{Featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (1)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (2)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (3)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (4)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (7)

|c3=
*[[Meltdown (Animated)|Prometheus Black/Meltdown]] (5)
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (6)
*[[Colossus Rhodes|Cyrus "Colossus" Rhodes]] (8)
*[[Carmine Fanzone|Captain Fanzone]] (9)
*[[Porter C. Powell]] (10)
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (11)

|c4=
*[[Security Bot]] ()
*[[Condiment Bot]] ()
*[[Reception Bot]] ()
}}

==Quotes==
"That's a human?" 
"Must be a new model."
:—'''Bulkhead''' and '''Prowl''' comment on Cyrus Rhodes.

"Just stay out of his reach." 
"Which one? The guy in the middle or the two on either side?" 
"Just swing at all of them."
:—'''Sari''' plays coach to '''Bumblebee'''. She's no [[wikipedia:Mickey_Goldmill|Mickey Goldmill]].

"Stand and fight! What are ya, yellow?!" 
"Well, duh."
:—'''Colossus Rhodes'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s insult is lost on '''Bumblebee'''

'''Prowl''': ''[to Bumblebee]'' Next time, use your head. Find your foe's weakness and strike there. 
'''Bulkhead''': If you can reach it. 
'''Bumblebee''': Oh, right. I get it. Cause I'm short. 
'''Bulkhead''': What? I'm just bustin' your bumpers a little, buddy. 
'''Bumblebee''': Why does it have to be 'little buddy?' Why can't it just be 'buddy'? 
'''Ratchet''': What's with him? 
'''Bulkhead''': Ah, he's just mad cause he came up a little short. 
''[Ratchet, Bulkhead and Sari laugh]'' 
'''Bumblebee''': Okay, now, you're doing it on purpose!
:—Bumblebee is having a bad day

'''Ratchet''': I'd like to run some more tests. It should only take a few hours. 
'''Bumblebee''': That long? 
'''Bulkhead''': His attention span is short, too. 
'''Bumblebee''': I heard that! 
'''Prowl''': Apparently, so is his fuse. 
'''Bulkhead''': Ooh, the ninjabot gets in a good one! 
'''Ratchet''': Who knew he had it in him? 
'''Bumblebee''': Yeah, aren't you supposed to be the strong, silent type? Emphasis on the ''silent''.
:—Auto-banter

'''Sumdac''': Prometheus, why are you doing this? 
'''Meltdown''': Because you're a fraud! 
''[Sumdac gasps]'' 
'''Meltdown''': I am smarter, better-looking, and more educated than you, and yet, everything you touch turns to gold! While everything ''I'' touch... 
''[Statue melts, and Meltdown throws it out through a window]'' 
'''Meltdown''': Just...look at me. I'm a freak! But I refuse to be beaten by some simpering nerd who merely got lucky!
:—Meltdown gets closer to [[Megatron (Animated)|the truth]] than he realizes.

==Notes==
===Continuity errors===
* Why did Sari have to wait until she and the Autobots were en route to Sumdac Tower to contact her father? Could she not have reached him from the Autobots' base?

*During the battle outside Sumdac Tower, plenty of car alarms are going off from wrecked vehicles, but these don't seem to affect Rhodes the way the car alarm did outside the wrestling arena.

*When Optimus orders the Autobots to roll out, only Bumblebee and Bulkhead are seen transforming and following him. However, Ratchet and Prowl appear out of nowhere in the next scene.

===Transformers references===
* Black angrily asserts that Sumdac is only successful because he "got lucky." In "Transform and Roll Out!", Sumdac publicly joked that he had "stumbled upon" [[Megatron (Animated)|the secret of his success]].

===Real-world references===
* Sumdac's sabotaged police drone bears a more-than-passing resemblance to the [[wikipedia:ED-209|ED-209]], a police robot from the film ''[[wikipedia:RoboCop|RoboCop]]''. Likewise, Sumdac's mention of its faulty identification software is likely a reference to a scene in the film in which the ED-209 runs amok at a demonstration. Coincidentally, ''RoboCop'' also takes place in a futuristic [[Detroit]].
* Obviously, Cyrus Rhodes is meant to roast [[The Interplanetary Wrestling Championship!|professional wrestling]] and the prevalent use of [[wikipedia:Anabolic steroid|steroids]] in the business. His name is also a reference to both the last name of famous wrestler [[wikipedia:Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)|"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes]] and to one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World; [[wikipedia:Colossus of Rhodes|The Colossus of Rhodes]].

===Trivia===
*Bulkhead can make a chair out of his own back [[kibble]]. The Leader class toy can do that!

* Prowl gets called a ninja, finally.

* The Sumdac "S" logo on the Foyer floor is the same as the Sphere logo from Skyland.

* Although "Total Meltdown" is the fifth episode in production order, it was aired as the eighth episode in the [[United States of America|United States]].

* On [[January 19]], 2008, this episode aired on YTV in [[Canada]] and was also made available through OnDemand stations in the U.S. It finally got a "normal" airing on [[Cartoon Network]] on [[February 10]], 2008.

* In the United States, as of 2008, the possession of anabolic steroids without a prescription is punishable by up to seven years in prison. Since Black volunteers the info about Rhodes' use of steroids to Fanzone, the laws must be different in near-future Detroit, or else Black's particular types of steroids are exempt. (Or Rhodes' doctor wrote him a prescription with the decimal point in the wrong place.)

* This is the first episode (counting "[[Transform and Roll Out]]" as one episode) not to feature Megatron. Or any [[Decepticon]] for that matter.

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Mission Accomplished

2009-12-14T16:45:10Z

JudgeDeadd:

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=Jagged.JPG
|caption=Starscream refused to invoke his right to remain silent, so the Autobots decided to enforce it.
|ep=19
|title="Mission Accomplished"
|airdate= [[April 26]], 2008
|written by= [[Marsha Griffin]]
|directed by=[[Irineo Maramba]] [[Yoshio Frank Chatani|Yoshio Chatani]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}

'''Convinced there are no Decepticons left on Earth, the Elite Guard prepares to take Optimus Prime and his crew back to Cybertron, unaware of the increasing Decepticon activity taking place under their very noses.'''

:''German title:'' "'''Mission erfüllt'''" ("Mission Fulfilled")
:''Polish title:'' "'''Misja wykonana'''" ("Mission Accomplished")

==Synopsis==
The Autobot [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] sends a message to the Earth-based Autobots, revealing he is under attack from Decepticons and has already lost one [[space bridge]]. He requests backup, but the transmission is cut off. Ultra Magnus explains this is but one of many reports of rising Decepticon activity. Jazz thinks it is due to the rumours of Megatron's survival, and Sentinel can't resist an opportunity to make a snide comment about the source of those rumours: Optimus Prime. Magnus therefore decides that all Earth-bound Autobots will make preparations to leave the planet. When Optimus protests due to the presence of Decepticons on Earth, Ultra Magnus brushes him off, whilst Sentinel butts in with another tirade about putting Prime up for an inquiry (or a [[wikipedia:court-martial|court-martial]], as Optimus perceives it). Ultra Magnus tries to make his position clear; that in the long run, everyone is better off believing Megatron is dead. Putting forward the idea of the Decepticon leader surviving and the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] being destroyed would cause panic among the Autobots and strengthen the resolve of the Decepticons. An outraged Optimus is forced into compliance.

Back at the factory, Sari is heartbroken by the idea of her friends being forced to leave Earth. The situation is made worse when Sentinel shows up. With his usual grace and tact, he tells Sari to belt up and officially inducts Optimus's team into the war effort. In the middle of insulting the "repair grunts", he makes a gesture of sorts to Optimus: Do as Ultra Magnus says, admit he's been lying, and Sentinel will use his connections to get Optimus's military career back on track, as thanks for [[The Return of the Headmaster|the recent Headmaster incident]]. When Optimus tells him what to do with his offer, Sentinel places him under formal arrest.

[[Image:Tooyoungtodie.JPG|left|180px|thumb|Go to your happy place, Screamer.]]

On a garbage scow moving along the river, Starscream suddenly reactivates. Disorientated, he panics when he realises that not only can he not pick up any other Decepticon energy signatures, he can't even pick up his own! After a moment of shock, he recovers and gets his bearings: he's alive and still on Earth. Furious at Megatron's attempt on his life, he transforms and blasts off into the sky.

At the Decepticon base, Blitzwing and Lugnut successfully test out Professor Sumdac's new Decepticon signal dampener. Mildly impressed, Megatron quickly moves on, demanding the creation of a subspace communicator so he can contact his forces in space to call off the aimless skirmishes until he can build his own space bridge. When Sumdac comments that Earth technology is too primitive to create a tachyon transmitter, Megatron smugly informs him that they will simply steal the required tech from the Elite Guard's ship. Meanwhile, the Autobots are trying to figure out what to do with Sari, so they take her to the most together human they know, Captain Fanzone—although they do point out that most of the humans they know are criminally insane, such as [[Meltdown (Animated)|Meltdown]] and [[Nanosec]].

[[Image:MissionAccomplished-Fanzoneindressinggown.jpg|right|175px|thumb|It's not what it looks like.]]

While they handle that, Optimus is on the Elite Guard's ship, with Sentinel still trying to convince him to play ball. Optimus refuses to lie, while Sentinel says that confirming there are no Decepticons on Earth would merely confirm what their sensors are saying. While they argue, Lugnut and Blitzwing tunnel under the ship's shield and steal a tachyon transmitter. As they make their escape, they fail to notice Starscream tailing them back to base.

[[Image:Swordscream.JPG|left|180px|thumb|And so begins the greatest ''Transformers'' montage of all time.]]

As Lugnut presents his prize to Megatron, Starscream makes his presence known. What follows is a quick but decisive victory for Megatron, who simply slashes Starscream before blasting him point-blank. Lugnut checks to see if Starscream is still online, and finding no spark, helps Blitzwing toss his corpse into the river. After floating downstream, Starscream suddenly reactivates again. He realises he lacks a spark and discovers he is being kept alive by a fragment of the AllSpark buried in his head, effectively making him immortal. Delighted, he declares the end of Megatron's era. As Megatron sends his message out to the Decepticons, Starscream attacks...and is promptly killed again. After a couple more fruitless attempts, he starts to wonder if he needs a new strategy. His fragment allows him to locate a second shard, and a plan begins to formulate...

[[Image:Sentinel Prime shocked.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Sentinel Prime: Totally owned. Again.]]

At the Elite Guard ship, Magnus presses Optimus Prime to cooperate, when Jazz reveals that he's discovered a sudden surge in AllSpark energy. Concluding that it's another shard, Magnus and Jazz go to retrieve it, while Sentinel is to remain and watch Optimus. As Sentinel moans, Optimus realizes that they had only found AllSpark shards before due to [[AllSpark Key|Sari's key]]. Doing a thermal scan, he discovers Starscream. Optimus tries to warn Ultra Magnus, but Sentinel threatens to put him in [[stasis cuffs]] if he tries to leave. Optimus is able to take down Sentinel (who [[Starscream (G1)|squeals]] like a [[Carly Witwicky (G1)|girl]]) and place him in the cuffs, then [[Roll out|rolls out]].

Meanwhile, Optimus' crew are watching Sari "interview" Captain Fanzone, who is not very fond of children, when Optimus contacts them and tells his team to meet him en route to the train.

As Starscream gloats about his plan to draw out Megatron and kill him in a massive explosion, Ultra Magnus and Jazz arrive, as do Megatron and Blitzwing. Megatron realizes that it's a trap set by Starscream, while Magnus and Jazz have trouble extracting the shard. An energy surge throws the Elite Guard off the train. Further ahead along the tracks, Optimus orders Prowl to sever the passenger cars from the main car, while Bumblebee takes Sari to use her key to remove the shard. They succeed, but the train still nearly crashes, only stopped because Ratchet uses his magnets from ahead while Bulkhead, anchored by Optimus Prime, grabs the rear of the train. High in the air, as Starscream fumes about the lost opportunity, Megatron appears, ready to beat him senseless.

On the ground, Ultra Magnus reprimands Optimus Prime, while Sentinel Prime arrives and accuses him of assault. Though Optimus defends his position, both Elite Guardsmen point out that there is no evidence of Decepticons—only for Starscream to crash into the ground mere meters away, causing Sentinel Prime to freak out at the sight of an actual Decepticon. Quickly coming back online, Starscream takes advantage of Magnus's momentary inattention to blast the Autobot leader into unconsciousness from point-blank range, taking the shard with him. The Autobots' attempts to take down Starscream fail, until Optimus comes up with a plan—although an intervention from Jazz is required to make Sentinel go along with it. Having Sentinel draw Starscream's attention, Optimus uses the stasis cuffs on the Decepticon, who is then taken to the Elite Guard ship—with his mouth riveted shut.

Ultra Magnus admits that Optimus Prime was right about there being Decepticons on Earth, and though Sentinel Prime brings up the assault and insubordination charges, Magnus still supports Optimus's actions. Magnus decides that Optimus Prime's crew will remain on Earth to locate the remaining AllSpark shards and capture the Decepticons, while the Elite Guard returns to Cybertron for Magnus to conduct the war effort. Sari is overjoyed that the Autobots are staying, but promises Captain Fanzone that they can still hang out.

Meanwhile, Megatron tells his minions to inform their double agent on Cybertron that the Decepticons have repledged their allegiance to Megatron and that their attacks will draw Autobot forces away from the Transformers' home world. Once the space bridge technology is fully developed, Megatron's group will return to Cybertron and conquer the planet from within...

==Featured characters==

{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] (1)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (2)
*[[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] (3)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (4)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (5)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (7)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (8)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (9)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (10)

|c2=
*[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] (11)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (12)
*[[Lugnut]] (13)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (15)

|c3=
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (6)
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (14)
*[[Captain Fanzone]] (16)
}}

==Quotes==
"You dare strike ME, Megatron? After all my loyal stellar cycles of—wh-wu-wait, where is everybody? How did I get here? I'm not picking up any Decepticon energy signatures... not even my own. I'm too young to be offline!"
:—On coming back from the dead, '''Starscream''''s speech-making tendencies outweigh his observational skills.

[[Image:Number one wink.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Thumbs up, soldier!]]
'''Fanzone''': Why me? 
'''Bumblebee''': You're tops on the list of all the humans we know personally. 
'''Bulkhead''': Although, it is kind of a short list. 
'''Prowl''': And it does include [[Prometheus Black]] and [[Nanosec]]. 
'''Bumblebee''': But still, you're number one! 
:—The Autobots try to get Captain Fanzone to adopt Sari. They need to work on their sales pitch.

"Ah, if it isn't my old pal Megatron. And by 'old pal,' I mean the piece of scum who tried to incinerate me into oblivion!" 
"Starscream. You're alive." 
"What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost. Well, maybe you have!"
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Megatron'''

"Is that the best you could do, Starscream? And to think you actually believed you could take over as leader of the Decepticons. You couldn't lead a parade."
:—'''Megatron''' gives Starscream [[The Transformers: The Movie|a hint]].

"Fellow Decepticons, take heed. Your leader, Megatron, still lives! Though we remain dispersed throughout the far reaches of the galaxy, exiled from our true home, we are all still Decepticons, united by a common purpose. The time has come for us to put aside our differences and act as one under my undisputed leadership. Only then can we cast off the shackles of Autobot oppression. Working together, we can raise up our glorious empire once more and crush all who stand in our way!"
:—'''Megatron''' has a good speechwriter

"I think I need another approach."
:—'''Starscream''', after several failures to destroy Megatron

"When are you going to get it through your thick processor? There are no Decepticons on this planet! So keep your audio unit shut or I'll do it for you." ''[brandishes stasis cuffs]'' 
''[beat]'' "I'd like to see you try, you worthless crankshaft!" 
"THAT'S IT!" ''[ten seconds later]'' "You put me in stasis lock?!"
:—'''Sentinel Prime''', owned by '''Optimus Prime''' yet again.

''(after his 'exploding train' trap has failed)'' 
'''Starscream''': No! This day couldn't possibly get any worse! ''(sees Megatron hovering in front of him)'' I stand corrected.
:- Starscream's not having a lucky day- Oh, who am I kidding? He ''never'' has a lucky day.

"'''''STARSCREEEEEEAM!!!!!'''''" 
"Sorry, you must have me confused with some other harrier jet."
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Starscream'''. We don't think he bought it, Screamer.

'''Sentinel''': Optimus Prime, you are under arrest for assaulting an Elite Guard officer. Add that to the other list of charges against you, and you can kiss your career goodbye. Do you have anything to say for yourself? 
'''Optimus''':...Incoming! 
''[Starscream crashes from high altitude into the ground.]'' 
'''Sentinel''': WHAT IS THAT THING?! 
'''Optimus''': Oh, that's right, you've never seen one up close. It's called...a Decepticon.
:—Starscream crashes to Earth, freaks out Sentinel Prime, and gives Optimus Prime the proof he needs.

"Yeesh, Optimus, think you could have drawn that one out any longer?" 
"You're welcome, Sentinel." 
:—'''Sentinel Prime''' and '''Optimus Prime''', same old song and dance.

==Notes==
*This episode was first broadcast in Canada on April 26, one week before its United States premiere, and during the American premiere of the episode "[[The Return of the Headmaster]]".

===Animation or technical errors===
* While dropping into Megatron's mountain base for the first time, the "glow" effect on Starscream's jet exhaust is misaligned for several seconds until he 'catches up' to it.

* Just before Prime activates the thermal scan of the cloud bank supposedly concealing Starscream, Starscream is already plainly visible on the viewscreen. If Starscream wasn't meant to be concealed, then it's a continuity error, as Prime wouldn't need a thermal scan to detect him, just a magnified visual, unless Decepticons have different heat signatures than normal Harrier Jets.

===Continuity errors===
* Megatron and the other Decepticons don't seem to wonder why it is that Starscream keeps coming back, despite the fact that they note that his spark compartment is empty.

* Megatron shatters Starscream's yellow cockpit the first and fourth times he "kills" him in the episode, leaving his empty spark chamber visible. When Starscream pulls a [[wikipedia:Jack_Harkness|Captain Jack]], it is still missing. After he sees his reflection in the water the first time, and simply when they cut to a different angle on the fourth time, it is suddenly present and intact once more. (It's possible that's because of the miraculous powers of the AllSpark shard; if it can keep Starscream online, it surely can regenerate any damage he has taken.)

* The AllSpark shard Starscream recovers changes size constantly, from barely fitting into Starscream's hand, to small enough to fit into Optimus's palm with his hand closed.

* How did Sentinel get the stasis cuffs off?

* Captain Fanzone's wife is mentioned in "[[Total Meltdown]]", but she's neither seen nor mentioned here. A possible divorce, perhaps?

* When Optimus Prime puts the newly acquired fragment of the AllSpark into its housing, there are four shards total, even though thus far, only two have been recovered by the Autobots on-screen. Optimus does note in the episode that, in the past, [[AllSpark Key|Sari's key]] had been the primary tool used to locate fragments of the AllSpark. As this has only happened in the episode "The Elite Guard" so far (as well as this episode), it is conceivable that the Autobots managed to locate two other "SmallSparks" off-screen.

* As Lugnut and Blitzwing tunnel under the force shield to the Elite Guard's ship, they leave a gigantic hole, which no one notices. And later on, the hole has mysteriously disappeared.

* When the Autobots stop the train, Sari is somehow not hurled forward off its roof by her own momentum, even though she is not restrained in any fashion. Unless...<strike>''she's a witch!''</strike> Ratchet's magnets affected her [[Transwarped|robotic structure.]]

===Transformers references===
*Much like [[Starscream (G1)|his Generation 1 counterpart]], [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] is now immortal, only this time they actually explain why and leave him with a body.

*Megatron believes Starscream "couldn't even lead a parade", just as his G1 namesake said in "[[Starscream's Brigade]]". This line also harkens to a similar line in the G1 pilot "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 3|More Than Meets the Eye]]" in which Megatron remarks that Starscream "Couldn't lead [[Ant-droid|ant-droids]] to a picnic..."

===Real-world references===
* [[wikipedia:Mission Accomplished|The title. Nuff said.]]

* Starscream refers to his disguise as [[wikipedia:Harrier Jump Jet|Harrier Jet]]. Pity his model won't turn up for another hundred years or so.

===Trivia===
* Along with [[Transformer|machines]] and [[Survival of the Fittest|lawyers]], it seems [[Captain Fanzone]] doesn't like kids.

* It's not clear how Starscream ended up in the garbage scow. If the Autobots threw him there, wouldn't they have retrieved him (as proof of Decepticon activity) in "[[The Elite Guard]]"? If it was humans, why didn't they keep his body in order to study alien technology? Or, one of the Decepticons may have thrown him into the scow, as a gesture of contempt or to hide their presence on Earth...but we don't know for sure.

* In the first interior shot of the Decepticons' hideout, we see the markings on the top of their computer station resemble the upper half of the Decepticon sigil, complete with glowing eyes.

* In his speech, Megatron goes on about how the Decepticons are united by a common purpose and need to put aside their differences, yet Megatron himself is beating the slag out of a fellow Decepticon for the duration of the speech. How ironic.

* Starscream is not just beaten up, but ''killed'' by Megatron five times in a ''single episode''. Must be a new record.

* The Elite Guard does not come off very well in this episode: Ultra Magnus and Jazz fail to notice a large hole the size of [[Lugnut|a B2 bomber]] when leaving their ship, a tachyon transmitter gets ripped off their ship without them even noticing, Sentinel Prime freaks out at the mere sight of a Decepticon, and Ultra Magnus gets defeated by Starscream after only one shot (to be fair, it ''was'' at point-blank range, ''right in the face''.)

* Megatron mentions having a double agent on Cybertron. Who could it be?

* With this episode, [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|all]] [[Ironhide (Movie)|five]] [[Bumblebee (Movie)|of]] [[Jazz (Movie)|the]] [[Ratchet (Movie)|Autobots]] from [[Transformers (2007)|the live-action movie]] have appeared in ''Transformers: Animated''.

* When Sentinel is trying to bribe Optimus, he says he could get Optimus re-instated in the Elite Guard, yet in the flashback in "[[Endgame, Part I]]", Optimus would be expelled from the Autobot Academy, and rendered permanently ineligible from joining the Elite Guard in the first place.

* Optimus Prime's crew has already proven to be smaller and less powerful than the Decepticons yet these Autobots are all that the great Autobot Supreme Commander could think of to leave behind on Earth to fight and capture the really powerful MEGATRON!? That plan is worse than movie Optimus Prime's.

==External links==
*[http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/dlink/index.html?episodeID=8a25c3921fc6a295011fc998b17d012e "Mission Accomplished" streaming video at Cartoon Network] (link functional until 3/03/10)

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Rise of the Constructicons

2009-12-14T16:44:28Z

JudgeDeadd:

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=TFA Rise Constructicons online.JPG
|caption=
|ep=22
|title="Rise of the Constructicons"
|airdate=[[May 17]], 2008
|written by=[[Stan Berkowitz]]
|directed by= [[Ben Jones]] [[Irineo Maramba]] [[Shunji Ōga|Shunji Oga]]
|animation studio=[[The Answer Studio]]
}}

'''Bulkhead befriends a pair of construction vehicles brought to life by AllSpark energy. But the Decepticons have their scanners set on the duo for their latest construction project.'''

:''German title:'' "'''Bulkheads neue Freunde'''" ("Bulkhead's New Friends")
:''Polish title:'' "'''Narodziny Constructiconów'''" ("Birth of the Constructicons")

==Synopsis==
The Autobots once again must aid in the restoration of the increasingly disaster-prone city of [[Detroit]]. There is an odd amount of balking, considering they're a [[space bridge]] repair crew, but Optimus Prime reminds them that a fair amount of the destruction is indeed their fault. These musings are cut short by Bumblebee spotting the ''other'' party to Detroit's deterioration, the Decepticons. Blitzwing and Lugnut are scurrying by in a most undignified manner, carrying construction supplies for Megatron. A combined effort by Bumblebee and Ratchet manages to knock the two Decepticons skidplate-over-processing unit, but they still manage to flee with a much smaller portion of the supplies. The Autobots are prevented from giving chase by the cracking of a bridge support, which they then repair. At the end of the day, the Autobots are ready to head home. Bulkhead tells Optimus Prime he'll catch up, to mask the fact that he's accidentally adhered his feet to the ground with cement.

[[Image:RiseoftheConstructicons-Gen2HomageVehicleModes.jpg|left|175px|thumb|Whoa! Some fanboys is sleepin' easy tonight.]]

Meanwhile, across town, two construction vehicles are seen with [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] fragments embedded in them. The two fragments activate, and the machines gain sentience. After a brief debate over naming, they discover their new ability to turn into giant robots. This does not faze them in the slightest, and soon they chase off after a highly attractive sports car.

Thanks to the use of expired fixative, Bulkhead's attempts at mixing more cement prove explosive, knocking him out and nearly getting him skewered by iron girders. Thankfully, the newly minted Constructobots spot this and save his skidplate. They then help the lumbering Autobot to do the job ''right'' (making sure he doesn't leave the fixative lying around, either) and then take him off to a tanker for an oil break. Though Bulkhead is quite pleased with the oil he is served, he soon voices misgivings as to whether they ought to be doing this. Asked by the Constructobots whether he's going to act like a little yellow compact, he remembers his friends back at the base and invites his new acquaintances back to meet them.

[[Image:Rise Constructicons Sari no pigtails.jpg|right|175px|thumb|Relax, Sari, they'll have grown back by next week's episode.]]

At the base, the Autobots are not impressed with the crass pair. Loudly carousing to the point that even Ratchet thinks they're a bit rude, they soon wake up Sari. Wondering what all the commotion is, the poor girl gets her pigtails amputated by a game of smashed-oil-barrel frisbee. This is the last straw for Optimus Prime, who kicks the two paisanos out on their keisters.

The next day, Blitzwing and Lugnut are once again hauling heavy construction materials, this time Laurel and Hardy style up a steep hill. Blitzwing's footing slips, and he is nearly offlined by the heavy trailer that sends him careening towards a wall. Bracing for an impact that never comes, he is startled to find Mixmaster and Scrapper have saved him. Immediately, he asks them who and ''what'' they are. At first, the jovial pair answer that they are Autobots, but as this is met with some static, they quickly amend it to ''Constructobots''. Blitzwing sees an opportunity in the pair's brawn, and as police sirens approach, he convinces them to help haul the load. Lugnut objects, worried about Megatron's reaction. Blitzwing reassures him, ''sotto voce'', that they will offline the two goombahs immediately after the work is done. Lugnut is all for this plan, and once the goods are delivered, he charges up the [[Punch of Kill Everything|Punch Of Kill Everything]] while Blitzwing distracts the pair. However, Megatron arrives and gives Lugnut an awful case of ''punchus interruptus''.

[[Image:TFA Rise Constructicons punch interruption.JPG|left|200px|thumb|Hate to break it to you Lugnut, but nobody around you cares that you're alright.]]

Megatron invites the Constructobots into the Decepticon inner sanctum, which they would find to be quite commodious if they knew the meaning of the word. Once there, they express how cute [[Isaac Sumdac|Megatron's pet]] is, and the interstellar warlord shows them the schematics he stole from the Autobots' ship for the building of a space bridge. His hunch turns out to be correct when he finds that the Constructobots display an intuitive knack for grasping construction projects, and they tell him that the supplies he's been gathering will be insufficient to the task. Megatron grins as they reveal to him that they know exactly what is needed and where to get it.

The following morning, Bulkhead goes looking for his wayward friends. He finds them, pursued by [[Sumdac Systems]] [[Police drone|police robots]] after a daring heist of construction supplies. Stepping in and generally making a mess of the pursuers, he asks Mixmaster and Scrapper what they're up to. After being told that they stole these materials, he becomes irate because he thought they were so helpful before. They tell him they still are, they're just helping ''other'' bots. Becoming suspicious, Bulkhead presses them further and finds out they're working for Blitzwing and Lugnut. The large Autobot tries to convince them that the Decepticons are bad news, but is less than effective. The Constructobots think the Decepticons are just regular fellas and that Megatron is a laugh riot. Bulkhead grows still angrier, saying that Megatron is the worst of the bunch and was only tricking them. This finally clicks in their heads, and they drop what they're doing—on Bulkhead—and tear off down the road to take up their grievances with Megatron. Covered in girders, Bulkhead is unable to pursue.

[[Image:Rise Constructicons Megatron what.jpg|right|175px|thumb|I'm not a heartless mass murderer. I give all my victims their choice of execution method.]]

Upon discovering the Constructobots pounding on the steel door of the mine, Megatron is a bit less genial in tolerating their antics. Picking them up by their collars, he slams them against the mountainside and demands to know what they're doing. They explain that they want a piece of him because Bulkhead told them that Decepticons are the scum of the universe and that he'd tricked them. Megatron softens his demeanor and tells a tragic tale of Autobot oppression and the Decepticons being driven from their homeworld by these cruel tyrants. The Constructobots only understand about every third word of what he says, so he submits it would be a little easier to understand over a barrel of oil. Once inside, Mixmaster and Scrapper are quite impressed by the potency of the oil they're offered, which Megatron reveals to be his "special blend". Suitably placated, they listen to his pitch in which he stresses that as Constructobots, they can spend their lives fixing highway bridges, but as Constructi''cons'', they can build ''space bridges'' and be the heroes of millions of Cybertronians.

[[Image:RiseoftheConstructicons-Megatron'sprivateblend.jpg|left|175px|thumb|So tell me, fellas, Orlando Bloom or Johnny Depp?]]

Back at the auto assembly plant, Bulkhead is relaying his latest encounter with the Constructobots to his fellow Autobots. This doesn't go over well, so he attempts to convince Optimus Prime that his friends were actually ''angry'' at the Decepticons and that there's nothing to worry about, as afterwards they can lead the Autobots to the Decepticon base. Ratchet, however, worries that they'll do the exact opposite. Right on cue, Scrapper and Mixmaster arrive. Bulkhead is initially hopeful, as they are still his friends. The two bots agree with him, but business is business, and Megatron has better oil. Thus they say that they won't fight anyone, so long as they can pick up the fragments of the AllSpark and be on their way. Optimus Prime objects, and the Constructicons announce that they're sick and tired of the little dipstick and knock him over. A fight ensues, in which the industrial chassis of the Constructicons prove fairly impervious to most of what the Autobots can dish out. Bumblebee is taken hostage and ransomed for the AllSpark fragments. Optimus attempts to stall, but Bulkhead hands them over. As all the Autobots look on in disbelief, he encourages his old friends to have "one for the road." They partake in the offered oil and depart.

[[Image:TFA Rise Constructicons explosion.JPG|right|200px|thumb|Mixmaster and Scrapper after the "All-Night All-You-Can-Eat Jalapeño Buffet."]]

The Autobots give chase, berating Bulkhead for trusting them. The large Autobot, however, states simply that the Constructicons aren't going ''anywhere''. His plan is revealed as Mixmaster and Scrapper start to slow down, emitting smoke and having increasing trouble running. Soon, there is an explosion, and the AllSpark fragments' container lands at Bulkhead's feet. He had tainted the oil with the expired chemicals from his earlier botched repair job. Bulkhead confronts his former friends, but the blast has scrambled their memory. Confused and frightened, they haul tail out of there. The not-so-gentle giant is disappointed, but Optimus reminds him that even if they've lost their memories, they still have a choice not to serve Megatron.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters|c1=
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (1)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (2)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (3)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (4)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (5)

|c2=
*[[Lugnut]] (6)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (7)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (11)

|c3=
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (10)
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (12)

|c4=
*[[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] (8)
*[[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] (9)
*[[Security Bot]] ()

}}

==Quotes==
''[Scrapper bangs his shovel into Mixmaster]'' 
'''Mixmaster''': Hey, watch where you're pointing that thing, shovel-head! 
'''Scrapper''': Who you calling "shovel-head", cement-breath?! 
'''Mixmaster''': My name ain't "cement-breath", okay? It's...it's...uh... 
'''Scrapper''': Your little name tag says "Mixmaster". 
'''Mixmaster''': Nah, that's too long. Just call me "Mix". 
'''Scrapper''': All right, you got it, Mix. And you can call me... 
''[Sees a sign that says "SCRAP"] ''
'''Scrapper''': ...Scrap. 
'''Mixmaster''': All right, that's too short. How 'bout "Scrapper"? 
'''Scrapper''': I like it. 
:—The Constructicons come to life and name themselves. They had an easier time than [[Wreck-Gar (Animated)|Wreck-Gar]].

'''Scrapper''': So, uh, what do we do now? 
'''Mixmaster''': Duh, we, like, build things. Alright? 
''[Mixmaster transforms to robot mode] ''
'''Scrapper''': Uh, Mix? You're buildin' things out of yourself. 
''[Scrapper does the same] ''
'''Mixmaster''': Yo, Scrapper! You're doing it too! 
'''Scrapper''': Uh, we couldn't do that before, right?. 
'''Mixmaster''': What, talk, think, move by ourselves? I don't think so. We couldn't do any of that stuff before.". 
'''Scrapper''': Do you think that this is happening for, like, a reason? 
'''Mixmaster''': Uh, yeah. 
''[A red car speeds by.] ''
'''Mixmaster''': Whoa! Check out the chassis on that one, huh? 
'''Scrapper''': And those tight little tailpipes! Yo, baby, over here! 
'''Mixmaster''': Yeah, I like it when they play hard to get. 
''[They transform and speed off.] ''
:—The Constructicons contemplate their new-found existence but quickly throw it out the window when [[Side Burn (RID)|red cars]] are concerned.

"Hey, those don't grow back overnight!"
:—'''Sari''' loses her pigtails. Of course, they're back by next episode.

'''Mixmaster''': You okay, bro? 
'''Hothead Blitzwing''': DO I LOOK OKAY?! 
'''Random Blitzwing''': Or do these wing struts make me look fat? 
:—Blitzwing focuses on the important stuff.

''[Lugnut prepares to use his punch]'' 
'''Megatron''': Wait! 
''[Lugnut falls back into mine, where his punch backfires]]'' 
'''Lugnut''':...I'm okay. 
:—Lugnut's life sucks, sometimes, you know?

'''Mixmaster''': "You tricked us! You Decepticons are the scum o' the universe!" 
'''Megatron''': "...Whaaat? Who told you that?" 
'''Scrapper''': "Our friend Bulkhead." 
'''Megatron''': "And you believed him?" 
'''Mixmaster''': "Well, sure, he's our friend." 
'''Megatron''': "And did your friend tell you how his Autobot kind have oppressed us? Driven us from our rightful home? Oh, they may come across as complete imbeciles, but Autobots are cunning, ruthless, unforgiving." 
'''Mixmaster''': "Okay, like, this is too confusin' for me." 
'''Megatron''': "Then why don't I explain everything over a few barrels of oil?" 
'''Mixmaster''' and '''Scrapper''': ''[faces light up]'' "Oil?!"
:—Seduction of the stupid.

"The Autobots' oil tastes like ''water'' next to this stuff!" 
"It's my private blend."
:—'''Mixmaster''' discovers that '''Megatron''''s an oil connoisseur.

'''Bulkhead''': But...I thought we were friends. 
'''Mixmaster''': We are friends, Bulky, that's why we ain't gonna hurt you, okay? Long as you hand over whatever bits you got of the...th-...what did he call it again? 
'''Scrapper''': Uh, SparkAll? AllSpark, AllSpark. 
'''Optimus''': Over my offline body! 
'''Mixmaster''': Aghh—you know what? I have had ''enough'' of this dipstick-in-the-mud! 
''[Mixmaster shoves Prime back]'' 
'''Bumblebee''': Hey! He's ''our'' dipstick! 
'''Ratchet''': And nobody pushes him around! 
:—The Autobots defend the honor of their [[Prime (rank)|Prime]]...and fail miserably.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical errors===
[[Image:Bumblebeeanimatedconsigil.JPG|right|180px|thumb|[[Goldbug (SG)|Who's bad?]]]]
* When Ratchet tells Bumblebee to "vamoose" (around 1:30), Bumblebee has a red Decepticon insignia. [[Goldbug (SG)|Goldbug]] in disguise?
* When Bulkhead frees his foot from the cement, his jaw appears out of alignment, then realigns itself.
* When Bulkhead is jumping at the idea of Mix and Scrapper meeting the Autobots, Scrapper's left arm clips through his body, then the forearm briefly vanishes before his arm reappears in the correct place.
* As Megatron explains the Autobots' "cunning" to Mixmaster and Scrapper, the white outline around his insignia is not complete (either that or it's part of a shadow).
* After the Constructicons flee, the road Bulkhead smashed up is in perfect condition.

===Transformers references===
*Megatron corrupting the Constructicons may also be a nod to the Generation 1 series, in which he did the same thing in "[[The Secret of Omega Supreme]]". Except, instead of using the [[Robo-Smasher]], this time he gets them [[Microbots|robo-smashed]]...

* The two surveyors on top of the bridge are decked out in blue jeans, white shirts, tan jackets and yellow [[Hard hat|hard hats]] and boots, just like a disproportionate amount of humans from the [[Generation 1 (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]].

* A construction crane which appears in a few scenes early in the episode is colored in the traditional Constructicon green-and-purple ([[Hook (G1)|Maybe a Constructicon in disquise?]]). Purple and green excavation vehicles were previously seen in "[[Nature Calls]]", and yet the ''Animated'' Constructicons themselves are yellow and grey, which ''might'' be an homage to the ''Generation 2'' Constructicon toys.

*Scrapper and Mixmaster hit on a little red sports car. [[Side Burn (RID)|Sound familiar?]]

*Blitzwing's complaining about hauling heavy loads recalls [[Long Haul (G1)|another Constructicon member]].

*Constructicons cheating an Autobot has happened [[The Master Builders|once before]].

===Real-world references===
* The Constructicons often hit on cars (which could be the equivalent for them to female 'bots...[[Tracks (G1)|or something]]), just like real cartoon construction workers with passing women.
* The Constructicons beep as they back up.
* The whole plot seems to be pretty thoroughly cribbed from every after-school special on the dangers of peer pressure ever...except with giant robots, attempted murder, extortion, and a plot to overthrow one interstellar empire and reestablish another.
* While the "working-class" Constructicons drink their oil straight from the can, the "upper-class" Megatron drinks his oil out of "[[wikipedia:Goblet|goblets]]".
* Mixmaster and Scrapper have a very loose resemblance to [[wikipedia:Mario|''Mario'']] and [[wikipedia:Luigi|''Luigi'']] (respectively), mostly in build. Their vaguely Italian-American accents are more native New Yorker than the plumbers' immigrant accents, though.

===Trivia===
* It was revealed at [[BotCon 2008]] that much of Scrapper and Mixmaster's dialogue was actually ad-libbed by their respective actors [[Tom Kenny]] and [[Jeff Glen Bennett]].
* This episode first aired in Dubai, around two weeks before its English-language broadcast premiere in Canada.

* It seems that in the Animated-verse, yellow eyes represent the neutral position. Good to know there is a Switzerland equivalent on Cybertron.

* The Constructicons first start off as Constructobots, a portmanteau of "construction" and "Autobot", but later Megatron gives them a new name, formed from "construction" and "Decepticon" instead.

* Even assuming the Constructicons don't drink anything off-screen, they still consume what looks like half their weight in oil over the course of the episode. Where does it go?

* On second thought, [[Humanization|don't think about it]].

* Bumblebee receives a [[Stock footage|detailed transformation sequence]] for his stingers...which becomes extremely anticlimactic when his attacks just bounce off Lugnut seconds later. Likewise, Prowl commences his attack against Scrapper with a sequence showing him deploying his throwing stars, but he has better success hand-to-hand, after the stars ricochet harmlessly.

* Assuming oil prices didn't somehow decrease by the twenty-second century, the "snack" the Constructicons took was worth several hundred dollars. Shouldn't the world be out of oil by then, anyway? Then again, Mixmaster mentions "synthetic junk", which implies a way of creating artificial oil may have been invented.

==External links==
*[http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/dlink/index.html?episodeID=8a25c3921fc6a295011fc99d2acc015b "Rise of the Constructicons" streaming video at Cartoon Network] (link functional until 3/03/10)

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy

2009-12-14T16:43:58Z

JudgeDeadd:

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|ep=24
|image=SUV.jpg
|caption=Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No! Are we there yet? NO!
|title="SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy"
|airdate=[[May 31]], 2008
|written by=[[Dean Stefan]]
|directed by=[[Irineo Maramba]] [[Ciro Nieli]] [[Shunji Ōga|Shunji Oga]]
|animation studio=[[The Answer Studio]]
}}
'''Aided by a mysterious benefactor, Detroit's B-level villains team up to take down the Autobots once and for all.'''
:''German title:'' "'''Der Zeitblocker'''" ("The Timeblocker")
:''Polish title:'' "'''Towarzystwo Zbrodni Wszelakich"''' ("Society of All Kinds of Crimes")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Bumblebee Slo Mo.jpg|thumb|left|Tell me, Doctor, where are we goin' this time? Is it the '50s, or 1999?]]

[[Nanosec]] is on the loose again and leading the [[Autobot]]s for a merry chase. As they pursue him, they wonder how and why he's young again. They're no closer to catching him, so [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] instructs [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] to head off down a side street and come back around to cut off his escape. Bumblebee disregards this order, reasoning that he's the "star player" and is more than fast enough to get Nanosec on his own. As he speeds up, a mysterious force hits him and stops him in his tracks, which leaves the other Autobots no room to react. Nanosec escapes, and before Bumblebee can snap out of it, the Autobots crash into him. Optimus Prime expresses his disappointment in the little yellow one and orders him back to base so that [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] can run a diagnostic on his drivetrain.

Bumblebee ignores this order as well, resolving to find Nanosec again to prove to Optimus that he isn't malfunctioning. His search proves fruitless until [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] discovers that due to his scanning of [[Captain Fanzone]]'s car, Bumblebee has a built-in police scanner. Hearing a report of a robbery in progress, he reasons it's Nanosec and heads over. He's wrong, though, as it turns out to be the [[Angry Archer]]. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he decides to capture the ''other'' villain. Again, he is about to pursue when mysterious blue energy skids him to a halt. Sari urges him to have Ratchet check him out, but he still believes it's nothing serious. A third and final crime scene turns out to be [[Professor Princess]] trying to level a video arcade. Yet again, Bumblebee is stopped by the blue energy, and since it affects him in his robot mode, he finally admits he has a problem. However, Sari has noticed that her key reacts when the energy lashes out, and she surmises that an AllSpark fragment may be at fault. As she deduces this, a shady figure on a rooftop skulks off.

[[Image:Clock hideout.jpg|thumb|right|The <s>Bat</s> Clock Cave]]

Soon, that same figure meets with the other three villains at her lair, introducing herself as [[Slo-Mo]]. She reveals that she has aided each of them on their respective heists recently by using her timepiece, which can disable machines, even Transformers. She and Nanosec hit it off immediately, due in no small part to the fact that her time-based superpowers are what restored him to the prime of youth. She proposes to all of them that they make a great team and should form a crime syndicate. Professor Princess protests that she is not a criminal, but is quickly convinced.

Soon, news reports are everywhere regarding the new crime wave and its perpetrators. Bumblebee is quite frustrated at being repeatedly thwarted by Slo-Mo, but is soon hopeful when he hears a burglar alarm. This time, the criminals have bitten off more than they can chew, having loaded themselves down with too much loot. They try to escape and are initially successful, stopping Bumblebee. However, the cops soon have them surrounded without any getaway car. Slo-Mo receives a call on her watch phone and gets an offer from an anonymous benefactor. Taking the deal, the gang pile into a dull-yellow Hummer and peel out. With the police in hot pursuit, their patron speaks through the vehicle's console and tells them he's a big fan of their weird, wacky adventures. He says to consider the Hummer a down payment on what he hopes will be a beautiful business relationship. Slo-Mo seems less than impressed, as she considers herself the leader of the cartel, and it's just a truck. The voice then tells her to press the red button. A humongous turret rises from the back of the Hummer, blasting the police to smithereens. Having gotten their attention, their newfound benefactor mentions a scheme of heists that should make them all fabulously rich, as they will be stealing components to a weapon they can sell on the open market.

Definitely interested, the gang heads to a Sumdac Systems factory. Angry Archer attempts to blast the lock open with an explosive arrow, but Professor Princess announces that she has defused all of his weapons because she disapproves of violence...unless it is really colorful and pretty. Gleefully blasting an even ''bigger'' hole in the fence, she leads them in. The voice instructs them on what to steal, which is quickly rounded up by Nanosec while Slo-Mo takes care of the police robots.

[[Image:Watching SUVs.jpg|thumb|left|Bee: Where are the donuts? Sari: Huh? Bee: You can't have a stakeout without donuts!]]

Bumblebee and Sari spot them and speculate on what they're up to based off of the items they stole, but hang back as they realize they'll never catch the crooks if they get blasted by Slo-Mo again. Shadowing the cartel from a safe distance, they follow them to the roof of a parking garage. The gang's unseen patron instructs them on how to assemble the device in spite of their skepticism. Archer and Nanosec ask the purpose of the device and how it's going to make them money. The voice explains that it's ultimately useless without the final piece: Slo-Mo's superpowered timepiece. The crazy doll refuses to give up her superpowers, which angers her benefactor, who reveals himself to ''be'' their getaway vehicle, the Decepticon [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]].

Swindle makes it clear to them that he isn't about to take "no" for an answer, and he isn't above using his multitude of weapons systems against the puny fleshlings either. Blasting the floor out from under her cohorts, he squares off against Slo-Mo. She's initially confident that her timepiece will take care of him, but a useful purchase from the Vok proves more than enough to deflect it. Bumblebee races to intervene, but the debilitating blasts ricocheting off of Swindle's force field mean he can't get near the battle. Realizing he's in over his head, with much haranguing from Sari, he calls in Optimus and the other Autobots. Leveling his main cannon at Slo-Mo, Swindle is reminded by the dame that if he blasts her, he risks destroying her watch as well. Feeling a bit silly, the Decepticon recovers quickly and reveals he could simply take it using his integrated tractor beam. The MacGuffin retrieved, he then blasts the floor out from under ''her'' too.

[[Image:TFASwindlefullyarmed.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Swindle is the reason the Autobots of ''Animated'' don't have guns. He stole them all.]]

Slipping the timepiece into its intended slot in the device, Swindle quickly dials up his favorite warmonger, [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]. Expressing how glad he is that the old despot is still functional (and looking well), he brags about a weapon that would easily turn the tide against the Autobots and consign them to a fate worse than being offlined. Though his interest is piqued, Megatron is nonetheless dubious as to whether Swindle could pull it off. The arms dealer proves only too eager to show off the many merits of his wondrous new invention, and pulls a "But wait, that's not all!" that succeeds in blacking out every mechanical device in Detroit...even the Autobots!

Both Bumblebee and the Autobots speeding to the scene are left frozen, unable to move or talk, but aware of their surroundings. Sari notices, however, that [[Sumdac Tower]] is still powered up, and she deduces that its emergency forcefield kicked in, protecting it from the device as long as the emergency generators held. Unfortunately, being a little girl, Sari has no real chance of dragging Bumblebee to the safety of the tower. She receives aid from an unexpected source: the spurned cartel, who want to even the score with Swindle. Aiding her in transporting Bumblebee, they watch as she uses her key to gain access to the tower and suffers dismay when the Reception Bot announces their location as [[Porter C. Powell|Powell Tower]]. Once within the shield, both Bumblebee and Powdered Sugar are quickly revived, and Sari is able to use her key to jury-rig personal force fields for both the Autobot and his new, reluctantly accepted team of villainous backup. She also reprograms the Reception Bot's greeting to her satisfaction.

[[Image:Swindle gettin towed.jpg|left|thumb|And this is why [[Captain Fanzone|I]] ''like'' tow trucks!]]

Though Swindle proves quite ready for the big payback, the villains manage to buy enough time for Bumblebee to sucker-punch the Decepticon with his stingers, whilst Sari deactivates the device with her key. Slo-Mo attempts to retrieve her timepiece, and a scuffle ensues, resulting in it falling over the ledge and directly into Swindle's hands. All seems lost, but the rest of the Autobots arrive on the scene. Swindle is about to turn the timepiece upon Bumblebee's backup, but the little yellow Autobot charges in and lets his forcefield deflect the Decepticon's shot, paralyzing Swindle. Optimus Prime once again scolds the young hot shot, but Bumblebee gloats, shooting out Swindle's tires. Meanwhile the villains, showing ''why'' they're B-grade, attempt to escape in Swindle, only to be apprehended by the timely arrival of Captain Fanzone and the police. Fanzone notes that Swindle will be stripped at a police impound lot and sold for parts. He seems quite confident that the police department will get their Christmas bonus checks this year.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (2)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (3)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (4)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (5)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (12)

|c2 =
*[[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] (10)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (11)

|c3 =
*[[Nanosec]] (1)
*[[Angry Archer]] (7)
*[[Professor Princess]] (8)
*[[Slo-Mo]] (9)
*[[Captain Fanzone]] (13)

|c4 =
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (6)
}}

==Quotes==

"An Autobot. Verily, the arrows of outrageous misfortune seek to pierce me to the quick. ''Exeunt!''"
:—'''Angry Archer'''. Yon criminal maketh his escape...or something.

"Explosions aren't nice...except when they look like ''BEAUTIFUL RAINBOWS!''"
:—'''Professor Princess''', ever the fashion plate.

"Ooh, I like a man who works fast!" 
"And I like a girl who takes it slow."
:—'''Slo-Mo''' and '''Nanosec''' go over the target audience's heads. Hopefully.

"Negatronic force field emitter. A little something I picked up in an arms deal with the Vok of Nexus Zero. Nice creatures, the Vok. If you're ever in the Nexus Zero area, do yourself a favor and check them out. You won't be sorry."
:—'''Swindle''' thinks the Vok are quite nice. It probably helps if they're not [[Planet Buster|destroying your planet]].

"Megatron, you old warmonger! It's been stellar cycles. I can't tell you how tickled I was to learn that my favorite customer was still online. You look great by the way." 
"Oh, spare me the platitudes, Swindle. How did you get this frequency?" 
"A mutual bounty-hunting friend provided it in exchange for a weapon or two. Professional scruples prevent me from revealing his name." 
"Scruples? You'd sell your own motherboard to the highest bidder."
:—'''Swindle''' pours on the charm while '''Megatron''' pours on the acid.

"Are you seeing this? Are you loving this? Every machine, every robot in Detroit, inoperable! I could spring a leak, I'm so excited!"
:—'''Swindle''' about to sell you some Ginsu knives.

"Welcome to Sumdac Tower. Porter C. Powell is a booger-head."
:—'''Receptionist-Bot''' calls it like it is...with a little help from Sari Sumdac.

"Where's the off switch on this thing? Oh yeah, right here."
:—'''Sari.''' Yep, she found the right thing.

'''Optimus''': You should have called us sooner. If that weapon had gotten into Megatron's hands{{m-}} 
'''Bumblebee''': I know. I guess I just wanted to prove that I still had my touch. 
'''Ratchet''': Well, I hope you've learned something about team work. 
'''Bumblebee''': Oh, yeah. Even the star player needs backup sometimes.
:—Bumblebee learns the value of teamwork. Humility? Not so much...

==Notes==

===Continuity errors===
* Angry Archer uses an arrow that looks like a magnet to catch the bus. Except that it's the window, which wouldn't BE metal, that it sticks to.

* Nanosec's mugshot should either have a long beard, as he was [[Nanosec (episode)|apprehended]] right after Bumblebee had run him into old age, or be out of his costume, as he was also apprehended ''before'' he became a super-speedster.

* It was shown throughout the episode that the watch's slowdown effect was only temporary. It only gained the ability to "freeze" its targets permanently when it was put into Swindle's machine. Yet later, Swindle is said to be frozen "permanently" by a reflected blast from just the watch itself. Maybe it was holding a last fully charged shot?

* On the other hand, Swindle did seem to 'charge' his shot longer than the short bursts Slo-Mo was using, so the shot that reflected back at him had a longer effect. And maybe Bumblebee was just wrong. (Imagine that!)

* Swindle is all impressed by Vok forcefield technology, but apparently forcefields designed by [[Isaac Sumdac]] are just as powerful. Though Sumdac did steal all his technology from Megatron; perhaps a deal with the Vok was just (much, ''much, MUCH'') safer for Swindle.

* Either the S.U.V. team knew Swindle was time-blocked and they should have known he wouldn't move, or they thought he was still fully functional and were ready to climb into the Decepticon that tried to kill them 5 minutes ago. So what was their plan, exactly?

* Furthermore, when Angry Archer opens the window to ask for a push, it's clearly an electric window and even sounds like one. Which shouldn't have worked at all.

* While it's explained why Nanosec had the accelerated aging reversed, there's no given reason for the effect to have ''stopped'' once he was young again. Possibly Slo-Mo gave him "booster shots" off-camera.

* While selling Swindle's parts is a nice piece of poetic justice, realistically, his parts won't sell for much, if anything at all since they're all shut down. It's probably why [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] [[Five Servos of Doom|could have just bought him with a fine]].

===Transformers references===
* The final numbers on the cards the villains hold up in their mugshots correspond to the episodes in which they first appeared.

* Swindle mentions having dealings with the [[Vok]] on [[Nexus Zero]].

* Swindle mentions that he got Megatron's frequency from a "mutual bounty-hunting friend" in exchange for new weaponry. Gee, who could [[Lockdown (Animated)|THAT]] be?

* [[Slo-Mo]]'s watch functions similarly to [[The Immobilizer]], including how Autobots turn gray when frozen by it.

===Real-world references===
* Nanosec and the Archer's team name suggestions of "The Fast and the Villainous" and "The League of Extraordinary Criminals" are references to ''[[Wikipedia:The Fast and the Furious|The Fast and the Furious]]'' and ''[[Wikipedia:The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen|The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', respectively.

* Nanosec calls the Archer "William Smell", referencing legendary Swiss archer [[Wikipedia:William Tell|William Tell]].

* Nanosec says he is "tanned, rested, and ready," which was a slogan attached to a [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE6DB103DF932A25754C0A961948260 fake 1988 presidential campaign] for Richard Nixon.

*The sign outside the videogame arcade features several blocks from ''Tetris'' as well as miscolored renderings of a Goomba and a Spiney from ''Super Mario Bros.''

===Trivia===
* This episode was first shown in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It made its English language debut in Canada, one week before its American debut.

* This episode has the most "guest" voice actors yet, at three: [[Brian Posehn]] (Nanosec), [[Kath Soucie]] (Professor Princess), and [[Fred Willard]] (Swindle).

* Bulkhead appears, but has no dialogue.

* Professor Princess... flowers in a wide spread attack beam? Seriously?

* Bumblebee's stingers actually knock Swindle down{{m-}}the first time in the entire series that this weapon hasn't just bounced ineffectually off a Decepticon's hide. Maybe Swindle should trade off some of his weapons for a little more armor.

* That... or Bumblebee's stingers plus the assault of Angry Archer and Professor Princess gave him enough power.

* When Professor Princess falls butt-first on Nanosec's face, there's an odd squishy sound, followed by her looking very surprised. Either this is a case of cartoon sound-effects gone wrong, or that fall REALLY scared her.

* In the end, Swindle is trapped in a state that Bumblebee could not stand being in for less than an hour, ''forever'', and the Autobots don't seem to object to him being ripped apart and sold for spare parts. That seems a ''tad'' excessive.

* Bumblebee and Sari discover that he has a built-in police scanner, which makes sense, since Bumblebee scanned Captain Fanzone's car for his vehicle mode.

*The Society members all put their seat belts on when they clamber into their getaway SUV. Even among villains, safety must always come first! [[Public service announcement|Now you know...]]

==External links==
* [http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/dlink/index.html?episodeID=8a25c3921fc6a295011fc99fe8a40179 "SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy" streaming video at Cartoon Network] (link functional until 3/03/10)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suv: Society of Ultimate Villainy}}
[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Autoboot Camp

2009-12-14T16:43:22Z

JudgeDeadd:

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|ep=25
|image=Autobot Cadets.jpg
|caption=Class of 2008. The ENTIRE Class of 2008.
|title="Autoboot Camp"
|airdate=[[June 3]], 2008
|written by=[[Michael Ryan]]
|directed by=[[Ben Jones]] [[Christopher Berkeley]] [[Shunji Ōga|Shunji Oga]]
|animation studio=[[The Answer Studio]]
}}

'''On the trail of an escaped Autobot traitor, Bumblebee flashes back to a previous encounter with the traitor when he first met Bulkhead in Autobot Boot Camp.'''
:''German title:'' "'''Dr Spion-Bot'''" ("The Spy-Bot")
:''Polish title:'' "'''Maszeruj, Autobocie"''' ("March, Autobot")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Wasp Salute.jpg|thumb|left|"Sayonara, suckerzzz."]]
Somewhere in space, an Autobot shuttle streaks through the solar night and crash-lands on an asteroid, where its lone occupant races off across the barren ground in vehicle mode. Hot on his trail is [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], who chases him to a [[space bridge]] node on the asteroid. The green-armoured escapee triggers the space bridge with a blast from a familiar pair of stingers, and Sentinel loses his quarry as the portal explodes with light.

On Earth, [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] reports the news of the escapee to the [[Autobot]]s. [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] immediately recognizes the criminal in question as [[Wasp]], a 'bot sharing his bodyform whom he met when during his [[Elite Guard]] training days.

[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Bee Sentinel.jpg|thumb|right|Living rooms of America, do you catch my drift? Do... you... dig?]]
In the [[Decepticon]]s' underground lair, [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] contacts his double-agent on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] and congratulates him on orchestrating Wasp's breakout. The double-agent is concerned that they are speaking so freely on the subject, but Megatron assures him that nobody will be able to listen in on the broadcast. [[Isaac Sumdac|Professor Sumdac]] has other plans, though, as he secretly taps into the communication frequency and bounces it to the Autobots' base. Bumblebee and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] are on monitor duty at the time, and the message comes through exceedingly scrambled, but they are at least able to comprehend the existence of a double-agent. Naturally, Bumblebee immediately assumes it to be Wasp, and he decides to settle his old score, with Bulkhead tagging along. Bumblebee remembers how it all went down...

''Stellar cycles ago, on Cybertron, Bumblebee meets Bulkhead for the first time when they both attend boot camp to train under Sentinel Minor, alongside Wasp, super-durable [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] and telescopic-limbed [[Shockwave (Animated)|Longarm]]. The two B's immediately earn Sentinel's ire{{m-}}Bumblebee for his impetuous bungling, and Bulkhead for his desire to be nothing more than a space bridge technician{{m-}}and the pair gets saddled with oil cleanup. Of course, Bumblebee begins goofing off, which results in a stack of oil drums collapsing on Sentinel, which results in Bumblebee being made to stand in the middle of the courtyard in the dead of night, holding up oil drums and repeatedly declaring himself a “worthless oil stain.”''

[[Image:AutobootCamp-Sentinelgetsowned(Secondtime).jpg|thumb|left|150px|Hardly a relaxing oil bath.]]
''After a while, though, Bumblebee calls it quits, but as he is walking by a warehouse, he spots a shadowy figure speaking into a communicator, with the voice of Megatron responding! After a moment's hesitation, Bumblebee pops his stingers and commands the spy-bot to show himself...but the figure has vanished. When Bumblebee turns to leave, however, he spots Wasp walking out of the warehouse.''

''Unsure of how to proceed, Bumblebee confides in Longarm, who encourages him to gather some evidence and present it to Sentinel. Bumblebee tries setting up a trap, planting a box with the Elite Guard symbol on it in the open, hoping Wasp will grab it...except Sentinel is the first to come upon it, and it explodes, covering him in paint. Next, Bumblebee tries a listening device, but accidentally winds up broadcasting Sentinel over the camp's loudspeakers as he jokes about Ultra Magnus being too old to hack the commander role. In traditional boot camp manner, Sentinel makes the whole team suffer for Bumblebee's mistakes, and Wasp and Ironhide take it out on the little 'bot by disconnecting his legs and stuffing him in a locker. Longarm comes to Bumblebee's rescue, and urges Bumblebee not to give in.''

[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Oh Slag.jpg|thumb|Optimus must be kicking himself for having missed this.]]
''But the bullying doesn't stop, as Wasp hits Bumblebee with a burst of “friendly fire” in a simulated combat training exercise. Of course, it's just a paint grenade, but when Bulkhead offers to help Bumblebee up, Bumblebee snaps and insults Bulkhead's lack of ambition before storming off. Turning a corner, Bumblebee yelps as he finds several auto-cannons pointed in his face, but then laughs as he remembers that they're only loaded with paint rounds for the simulated combat. Or rather, they ''were'', as the shadowy figure from the warehouse slinks by the cannons and switches them to active ammunition. As the cannons open fire on Bumblebee, Bulkhead speeds to his rescue and takes out the cannons by dropping a building on them with his wrecking ball...only for Sentinel to get squashed under it as well. Bumblebee encourages Bulkhead to scarper, rather than risk his career by owning up.''

Tracking the message Sumdac broadcast to them, Bumblebee and Bulkhead wander through the wilderness, reminiscing about the old days. When Bumblebee stumbles into a patch of quicksand, Bulkhead plucks him out, but the conflict between the pair from their boot camp days starts bubbling back to the surface, and Bulkhead leaves Bumblebee to the mission himself. Angrily stomping up a mountain, Bumblebee loses his footing and falls off a cliff, becoming buried in an avalanche.

[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Wasp Captured.jpg|thumb|left|Will go on to star in [[Wikipedia:The Count of Monte Cristo|''The Count of Monte Cristo'']].]]

''Longarm informs Bumblebee that Sentinel is about to conduct a surprise locker examination, meaning that it's his last chance to find evidence on Wasp before Sentinel can take credit for it himself. Using his extensible limbs to trip up Wasp, Longarm allows Bumblebee to "help him up" and finger his locker key in the process. As Bumblebee quickly opens Wasp's locker, Sentinel appears behind him, demanding to know what he's doing, only to be quickly silenced when Bumblebee presents him with a Decepticon communicator. Impressed with Bumblebee's work, Sentinel plans to recommend him for an Elite Guard position. After Wasp is carted off, screaming his innocence all the way, Sentinel brings up the matter of the building being dropped on him. Since nobody has owned up, he decides to kick out whoever he feels like—and he feels like Bulkhead. Before he can give Bulkster the boot, however, Bumblebee steps forward and claims responsibility, sheepishly asking if it will affect his Elite Guard position.''

[[Image:TFA_Shockwave_DoubleAgent.jpg|thumb|Sometimes, when you stare into the abyss, it stares right back.]]
''Some time later, Bumblebee and Bulkhead are on an asteroid, working on a space bridge node, as Bulkhead cheerfully announces "I have arrived!"''

Buried under the rockslide, Bumblebee reflects on his friendship with Bulkhead out loud, and about how he saved Bulkhead's career, even ''if'' his friend never dreamed big. But Bulkhead ''did'' dream big; as the bulky bot appears above Bumblebee and hauls him out from beneath the boulders, he announces that he dreamed of being Bumblebee's friend. Bumblebee thanks his big buddy, and the pair drive off...having only been mere feet from the secret entrance to the Decepticon base.

Out in space, it turns out that Wasp didn't escape to Earth at all, and that he is still on the asteroid, huddled up in a ball. His mind clearly broken, the insectoid 'bot buzzes and twitters to himself about how he will find Bumblebee and make him pay for ruining his life.

Back at the Autobot base, our heroes contact Cybertron to alert the Autobots there about Megatron's double-agent. As it turns out, Bumblebee's old boot camp buddy Longarm is now Longarm ''Prime'', head of Cybertronian Intelligence, and he promises to root out the traitor no matter what.

In the Decepticon base, Megatron communicates once again with his double-agent... Longarm Prime! But the deception is a dual-layered one, for Longarm is, in fact, the shape-shifting [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]!

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Wasp]] (1)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (2)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (3)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (4)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (5)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (6)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (7)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (8)
*[[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] (11) (Flashback)
*[[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] (14) (Flashback)
|c2=
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (9)
*[[Lugnut]] (13, voice only)
*[[Shockwave (Animated)|Longarm Prime/Shockwave]] (12)
|c3 =
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (10)
}}

==Quotes==
"Hey there, little buddy. You mind scanning me next to these tall buildings? They'll never believe me back home." 
"Mhm. First time off the energon farm?" 
"How'd you know?"
:—'''Bulkhead''' and '''Bumblebee''', together for the first time.

'''Sentinel Minor''': Wipe that smile off your face, dullspark! 
'''Bulkhead''': Uh, I'm not smiling, sir! My jaw is just tempered that way, sir! 
'''Bumblebee''': Forget Mudflap's jaw, check out the asteroid-sized chin on Sarge! 
'''Sentinel Minor''': YOU GOT A COMMENT, FUNNY-BOT?! 
'''Bumblebee''': No, sir!
:—The future Sentinel Prime is a little sensitive about his chin. Maybe it's why he's such a jerk.

'''Sentinel Minor''': Now here's a bot who knows his place. You should try to be more like your friend here. 
'''Bumblebee''': He's not my friend, sir! 
'''Sentinel Minor''': WE'RE ALL FRIENDS HERE!
:—Mr. Personality does it again.

"You are nothing but a BUMBLER! From now on, your name is...BUMBLEBEE!"
:—And lo, a legend was born, thanks to '''Sentinel Minor'''

''[stands in the middle of an empty yard, holding up oil drums, reciting...]'' 
"I am a worthless oil stain. I am a worthless oil stain. I am a worthless oil stain...why am I even doing this?"
:—Sentinel Minor's punishment of '''Bumblebee''' could be considered "cruel and unusual".

"You would not '''believe''' the glitches the Commander's saddled me with this time. I'm starting to think that Ultra Magnus is a few circuits shy of a full processor, know what I mean? Oh, sure, he was The Bot back in the day, but now? Ultra Magnus is just a rusted-out, obsolete model sorely in need of an upgrade."
:—'''Sentinel Minor''' is a suck-up only to the boss's face. ''Quelle surprise''.

"But I'm innocent, I tell you! You're making a big mistake, all of you!" 
"Mute it, traitor!" 
''[Sentinel strips Wasp of his Autobot insignia]'' 
"I'll get you, Bumblebee, '''if it's the last thing I do'''!
:—'''Wasp''' proclaims his innocence as he's wheeled away in restraints, while '''Sentinel Minor''' acts much as ever.

"I couldn't leave you all alone out here like that. I should've, but I didn't."
:—'''Bulkhead''' is loyal, but not stupid.

"Bumblebot not hide from Wasp. Wasp swears he find Bumblebot. Wasp make Bumblebot pay for RUINING WASP'S LIFE!"
:—There lies a broken '''Wasp'''...

"Our long stellar cycles of planning will now come to fruition. I knew your size-altering power would allow you to blend in perfectly with the Autobots. Well done, my loyal servant...[[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]."
:—'''Megatron''' really knows how to introduce a major <s>plot point</s> Decepticon.

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
* In the scene after Sentinel Prime rips off Wasp's insignia you can see him still wearing it.

===Continuity errors===
* Bumblebee's stingers are shown to be powerful enough to knock down a building; yet in prior episodes they were only useful for zapping debris and bouncing uselessly off Decepticon armor. The discrepancy is somewhat explained in "[[TransWarped]]" when Ratchet gives Bumblebee battle-grade stingers to boost his power. Maybe when he was demoted to space bridge duty, his stingers were downgraded.
* If Professor Sumdac can reroute a Decepticon message between Earth and Cybertron to the Autobots on Earth, why can't he call for help too?
* If Cybertronians live on a planet with no organic life-forms, how does Sentinel know that wasps and bumblebees exist?

===Transformers references===
* Sentinel's speech about his troops being "cogs in a machine" is very similar to Optimus's comment at the beginning of "[[Transform and Roll Out]]" (although Optimus gets the message across without the attitude); it may be a standard message from the Autobot Academy.
* Clearly, when Bumblebee and Bulkhead noted that Sentinel Prime didn't remember them back in "[[The Elite Guard]]", they were referring to their boot camp days.
* It was explained back in "The Elite Guard" that "Prime" was a rank, and this episode reveals that before attaining the rank, Sentinel was known as "Sentinel Minor". [[Optimus Minor|Sounds a little familiar]].
[[Image:A25 cliffjumper.jpg|thumb|right|"Traitors? Fancy that."]]
* In the final moments of the episode, the addled Wasp (who has spoken perfectly normally throughout the flashbacks) begins speaking in the buzzing, third-person style of ''[[Beast Wars (franchise)|Beast Wars]]'' [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]].

===Trivia===
* Marty Isenberg has revealed that the other boot-campers being [[repaint]] characters was an idea of [[Derrick J. Wyatt]]'s, that the inclusion of Shockwave was a late decision, and that originally ''Cliffjumper'' was going to be the falsely accused. [http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/interviews-27/tfw2005-interviews-transformers-animated-story-editor-marty-isenberg-165509/]

* Sentinel Prime has switched back to his Cybertronian alt-form, presumably since arriving back on Cybertron (since he still had his Earth form in "[[A Fistful of Energon]]"). Considering what he thought of Earth, it's not really a surprise that he'd want to change back as soon as possible. [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] even muses over this in an entry in the [[AllSpark Almanac]], where he also explains that the only reason Sentinel is seen with his Earth mode later on is because he (Ultra Magnus) decided to keep his.

* This episode certainly explains a lot about Bumblebee's independent streak. His very first "team" effort was basically people being colossal jerks to him for no reason (well, except for Sentinel, really...drill sergeants are ''supposed'' to be like that) except for the big goofy country-bot...and standing up for said bot basically led to his dreams being crushed.

* On the other hand, if names get assigned by drill sergeants, you have to wonder exactly to what levels Optimus and [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Elita-1]] stooped in order to get those names...

* Lugnut is not shown, but is briefly heard saying "Megatron will speak to you now," when Megatron is contacted by Shockwave in the flashback, ten minutes into the episode.

* In this episode, when Sentinel gives Bumblebee his name, Bumblebee reacts as if he doesn't like it. However, in "[[Transform and Roll Out]]", when Bumblebee tells Sari his name and she responds, "I'm Sari," Bumblebee then says, "Oh, don't be. I like my name." Maybe he got over it?

*Bulkhead used to have a "hick" accent while in boot camp that he lost sometime after starting work on space bridges with Bumblebee and the others.

*What, exactly, was the point of Sentinel Prime keeping one arm in a bandage and sling? And for that matter, why do robots have slings?
**Most likely, for comedic effect, if nothing else.

*When commenting on Sentinel's chin, Bumblebee looks directly at the "camera", so to speak, making this one of the few occasions where animated ''Transformers'' media break the fourth wall.

==External links==
* [http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/dlink/index.html?episodeID=8a25c3921fc6a295011fc9a121850188 "Autoboot Camp" streaming video at Cartoon Network] (link functional until 3/03/10)

[[Category:Animated episodes]]