The Insecticon Syndrome

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I think they have a special shampoo for that.
"The Insecticon Syndrome"
Production code	#700-28
Season	2
No. in season	13
Production company	Sunbow Productions
Airdate	October 9, 1985
Written by	Douglas Booth
Animation studio	Toei
Continuity	Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Watch this episode on YouTube

The Insecticons feed on a source of power which causes them to grow... and will cause them to explode if not cured.

Synopsis

J'ACCUSE!

At a National Park, Jeff, a park ranger has called for help. Spike, Hound, Beachcomber, and Bumblebee respond, driving along a rocky road (and Bumblebee is especially having trouble). The ranger shows the Autobots some trees that appeared to have been chewed on by something. Beachcomber quickly realizes that something did chew on the trees, but not by an animal—it was the Insecticons. Meanwhile, the Insecticons are hiding in their current lair/hive/base thingy. They complain that the pines just aren't filling and they're still hungry, so they decide to go chow down on some redwoods. Meanwhile, Jeff is having trouble accepting the possibility of giant robotic insects (even though he's talking to a trio of giant robotic cars). Suddenly, another ranger, Mike, calls him, saying he's seeing giant robotic insects. The Autobots proceed to roll out.

Meanwhile, the Decepticons are searching for their Insecticon "allies". Megatron has come up with a plan that will require their unique abilities. As Soundwave spots the Autobots, Megatron takes it as a chance to observe them in action. As the other ranger barely dodges a falling tree, the Autobots arrive. The Autobots and Insecticons throw down, until the Insecticons push a log down a hill that nearly crushes the Autobots. Our heroes jump into a river to avoid death, but they then fall over a waterfall... at least, that's what the Insecticons believe, for Hound used his holograms to make it appear that the Autobots and humans fell over. After that, Megatron and the Decepticons arrive. He explains that he intends to attack Iron Mountain, a human military base, but offers the Insecticons to gorge themselves at the Nova Power Plant if they help them. Overhearing this, the Autobots contact the base.

Here's your problem, ma'am. See that? Termites.

Receiving their signal, Optimus Prime leads a strike force to the Nova Power Plant. Unfortunately, the Decepticons are already there. The Seekers quickly down the helicopters the humans have to defend the base, while Megatron, Soundwave, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw go to stop the Autobots. The Insecticons reach the Nova Power Core, which they proceed to drain. However, the protons within the core cause them to grow in size, and they decide to "show Megatron who's really in control." Soundwave overhears their plotting, but Bombshell implants him with a cerebro-shell and makes him their slave. The Insecticons proceed to kick the slag out of Ironhide and Wheeljack, and the Autobots are forced to retreat with their fallen comrades. Megatron is pleased with the Insecticons' new power, unaware that the Insecticons plan to off him.

At the base, the Autobots use Teletraan I to calculate what will happen to the Insecticons. It says that the energy from the Power Core will cause the Insecticons to explode unless something is done. However, the Autobots receive a distress signal from Iron Mountain, where the Decepticons are attacking. If the Insecticons explode there, they'll kill everyone there. Ratchet and Wheeljack quickly work on an antidote.

LOOK AT HIM! LOOK AT HIM AND LAUGH!

At Iron Mountain, the Decepticons attack. However, the human defenses are surprisingly advanced for simple flesh creatures. Finally, Shrapnel takes control of the human weapons, causing them to attack the base. The Autobots arrive, but are quickly buried in rubble by the Insecticons. Entering the base, Soundwave manages to access the computer. Megatron declares that it's time to eliminate the Insecticons, only to discover that his army has been taken over by them. Bombshell fires a cerebro-shell into Starscream, but Megatron manages to grab the shell fired at him and destroy it. Before Megatron can fire his fusion cannon at the Insecticons, Optimus Prime prevents him from doing so and they instruct the Decepticons to attack while they retrieve Soundwave. Prime explains the explosive situation to Megatron as Ratchet and Wheeljack arrive with an antidote.

Ahhh, my head asplode. Asplode.

Heading into Iron Mountain, Megatron fires at the Insecticons. Although he misses his targets, the Insecticons begin to reach critical mass, and will explode at any minute. Bombshell shoots Megatron, forcing Optimus Prime to manually transform him into gun mode to fire the antidotes into Bombshell and Kickback. However, Shrapnel harnesses lightning from the sky to blast Optimus Prime before he can load Megatron with the antidote made for him. Spike picks up the antidote and as Shrapnel is incapacitated by a power overload, bravely climbs up to the Insecticon's chest and throws the antidote inside, jumping clear just before Shrapnel explodes anyway. The power surge causes all of the cerebro-shells to deactivate, but also erases the information Soundwave downloaded. Bombshell uses a special shell to cause Shrapnel to reassemble, and the Insecticons fly away, with the angry Decepticons in pursuit. With the Decepticons defeated, the day is saved.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Beachcomber (1) Hound (2) Bumblebee (3) Optimus Prime (15) Inferno (16) Ironhide (17) Wheeljack (18) Jazz (19) Ratchet (20)	Kickback (6) Shrapnel (7) Bombshell (8) Megatron (10) Soundwave (11) Starscream (12) Thundercracker (13) Skywarp (14) Buzzsaw (21) Laserbeak (22)	Jeff (4) Mike (9) Spike Witwicky (5)

Quotes

"Gigantic robot insects that eat trees? YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING!"

—Jeff the Park Ranger's suspension of disbelief is ruined.

"The Insecticons have done well."
"Yes...perhaps they should lead us."
"You test my patience, Starscream."

—Megatron and Starscream after the Insecticons defeat some Autobots.

"Why, if it isn't Megatron, and his merry mechanical men!"
"Why you rust encrusted cockroach!"

—Bombshell and Starscream trade insults.

"Oh boy, a robotoid turkey shoot!"

—Inferno takes aim at Laserbeak and Buzzsaw.

"I hate fighting in reverse!"

—So much, in fact, that you would angrily throttle off unbothered that Spike is holding on for dear life, Bumblebee.

"Power has made the Insecticons obnoxious."
"And invincible."

—Starscream and Megatron

"What's the matter, Megatron? Weakling humans too tough for you, for you?"

—Shrapnel to Megatron, after the latter has been shot by a human weapon.

"Ohhhh....that Nova Power Core is giving me heartburn...that is, if I have a heart."
"If you have a brain, you'll realize that we've got a battle to fight!"

—Bombshell and Megatron

Hound's a bottom? Who'da thunk it?

"Guys, you all right?"
"Just great...if you don't mind two tons of Inferno sitting on your head plates."
"Look, you get ten tons of boulders off my shoulder struts, and I'll get off your noggin."

—Spike, Hound and Inferno

"No one gets into my cranial chamber!"
"Auugh, my cerebro-shell! My precious shell!"

—Megatron and Bombshell

"We're not that easy to squash, Megatron! We Insecticons, know how to get... it... together!!"

—Bombshell gets serious but then delivers a cheesy line after reassembling Shrapnel.

Notes

Production information

• First draft script: 28 December 1984
• Script revised by Ron Friedman: 4 January 1985

Continuity notes

So basically he's a live-action movie Transformer, wearing a bunch of boxes.

• This episode features the first appearances of Beachcomber and Inferno. However, no explanation of their origins is given.
• Bombshell complains his meal is "a little heavy on the neutrons". We'll hear a variant of that again.
• Where's the trailer go?
  • At the start of the Nova Power Plant attack, in a head-on shot, Prime's trailer just rolls off behind him and disappears over the horizon. This shot is recycled for the Autobots' arrival at Iron Mountain.
• Bombshell sure gets upset when one of his (presumably limitless) cerebro-shells is destroyed. This is the closest the cartoon ever got to showing his tech spec weakness, which notes that the shells can be used against him.
• This is not the first time that Optimus Prime has fired Megatron in gun mode, nor the first time that they've teamed up to save their skins. Nor would it be the last time.
• It's also not the first time that the Decepticons have chased the Insecticons off into the sunset.
• According to Spike, the Insecticons have "trilithium stomachs".
• After he climbs up the electrical tower and gets electrocuted, Ironhide's forearm panel pops open and the word "Ironhide" is written on the circuits inside.
• Bombshell's rather baffling ability to rebuild Shrapnel with a shell was, per the episode's script, supposed to be another use of his "Insecta-shells," previously featured in "A Plague of Insecticons". That episode failed to communicate the full extent of the shell's power—it produces the connecting wires and micro-circuitry needed to assemble the Insecticons' clones—and the script's direction to refer back to that episode for details results in this episode also failing to visually convey that these wires and circuits are what bind Shrapnel's shattered parts back together.
  • As such, the fact that the cerebro-shells shut down after Shrapnel exploded and Bombshell appeared to reassemble him with electricity would make one think that their roles had originally been switched.

Real-world references

• The episode's title is likely to be a reference to the movie The China Syndrome, which also deals with a pending meltdown and potential catastrophic explosion.
• Bombshell's complaint that the problem with pines is that you can eat a forest of them and be out of energy again an hour later is a play on a joke that American-Chinese food leaves you hungry an hour after eating. This joke was popular in the 1980s, but fell out of favor after the 1990s.
• Bombshell talking about whether he has a heart and Megatron retorting about whether he has a brain is presumably a sideways Wizard of Oz reference.
• Star Wars sound effects:
  • During the battle in the park, Bombshell and Kickback both launch and fly with Millennium Falcon engine noises.
  • The sound of a lightsaber igniting is used as Prime blasts away the rocks pinning down the other Autobots.

Animation and technical errors

• Jeff's pointing hand is layered behind Beachcomber when saying his "What kind of animals can devour trees this size?" line.
• Coloring errors:
  • In the second binocular view of the Insecticons, Shrapnel's "cockpit" isn't colored yellow.
  • Two Skywarps are shown flying against the human helicopters; one should presumably be Starscream or Thundercracker.
  • Megatron's upper gun body is black instead of light gray after he transforms in Prime's arms.
  • Thundercracker's cockpit cowlings are yellow instead of blue as he and the other eject their cerebro shells.
  • Bumblebee's nose is yellow instead of white as Spike makes his awful, horrible joke.
• Shrapnel's transformation to robot mode gets only half a transformation noise, and it's not timed to line up with the animation.
• Kickback is supposed to be in insect mode when he lands to kick the log after the Autobots, but he's drawn in robot mode, lying on his back!

• Starscream's Decepticon insignias are incorrectly the right way up when the Decepticons first approach the Insecticons.
• Megatron is missing his chest insignia during the line "At the Nova Power Plant".
• Buzzsaw and Laserbeak both leave Soundwave's chest with no chest-opening sound effect and no transformation noise.
• Bombshell is shown during Kickback's "making me grow" line, though given the lack of lip flap for the insect mode Insecticons, it's not an incontrovertible mistake.
• The animation is not especially consistent about how much the Insecticons have grown. Inside the power core, they're gargantuan; when they enslave Soundwave, they're only a few heads taller than him. During the attack on Iron Mountain they're the same size as the other Decepticons.
• As Shrapnel gets Soundwave into a full nelson, Soundwave has a purple Autobot insignia.
• A trace of Ironhide's accent slips into Peter Cullen's delivery as Optimus Prime orders Bumblebee, Inferno, Beachcomber, and Jazz to help him.
• Jazz has a Decepticon insignia during a shot in Autobot Headquarters after they discover the Insecticons are time bombs, just before the second commercial break.

The exit to Lollipop Land. And on the right, the unisex bathroom.

• Improbable viewpoints:
  • Teletraan I supplies a 3/4 view of the Decepticons attacking Iron Mountain. The view travels with them as they fly.
• As the "master defense sequence" is activated, and just before the blast shields are lowered, we get a view of the absurdly tiny doors on either side of the computer room.
• Starscream's wings are mounted much too high on his shoulders as he watches Soundwave absorb the computer info.
• When Bombshell turns to order his slaves to fire, he gets a whirring sound effect as if he were sitting on a moving platform.
• Shrapnel loses his last-word-repeating gimmick as he summons the lightning.
• As he watches Spike run up to Shrapnel, Optimus calls him "Pike". Or maybe "Bike". For real.
• When Beachcomber is in the foreground watching Spike get back up, his head inexplicably twists to the other side in a clip.

Continuity errors

• Soundwave eavesdrops on the Insecticons with a Transformer-sized stethoscope. As if this weren't implausible enough, he's wearing and using it in proper human fashion even though he doesn't have ears.
• Wheeljack and Ironhide climbing the transmission towers does not appear to serve any rational purpose.
• Why is Spike out of breath when he, Beachcomber, Hound and Bumblebee arrive at the Nova Power Core plant? He's shown driving up in Beachcomber, and then immediately perched on Beachcomber's shoulder when they transform to robot mode, meaning he hasn't exercised a single muscle.
• Spike once again gets a wrist watch that shows up only in the shots where he needs to tell the time.
• From the time Spike looks at his watch and issues the 30-second warning to the point where Shrapnel explodes, about 1 minute and 46 seconds pass. As well, when he gives Shrapnel his 10-second warning, it takes about 47 seconds until he detonates. (On a minor note, it takes Spike 6 out of the available 10 seconds to say that Shrapnel is going to explode.) Either their estimates on when the Insecticons would explode were off, or seconds are longer in this episode than they are elsewhere.
• Inferno disappears from the episode after a quick appearance inside of Iron Mountain, just before Shrapnel's big explosion. He doesn't even get to laugh with the other Autobots at the end.
• Despite it being a core premise of the episode, the Insecticon's power upgrade plays no part in the Decepticons seizing Iron Mountain. The Insecticons do little more than fire a few shots until Shrapnel turns the installation's own defenses against it - which we already know he can do. The Autobots are neutralized with one shot at an overhanging rock face. Even usurping Megatron was achieved using Bombshell's cerebro-shells, rather than their power boost.

Trivia

Remember kids, guns are awesome!

• Spike totally gets his own laser gun in this ep.
• Amongst the text that comes up on the Iron Mountain computer is a mess of BASIC programming commands and repeated "Syntax error"s.

Foreign localization

French

• Title (European French broadcast): "La centrale maudite" ("The power plant of doom")
• Title (Canadian French broadcast & European French DVD release): "Le syndrôme des Insecticons" ("The Insecticon syndrome")
• Original airdate: ?

• Several logo transitions were cut. It is unknown if it was that way for the original broadcast or if the episode was chopped for the DVD release.
• The whole dialog between Hound and Bumblebee in the intro is absent from the dub.

Italian

• Title (dub 1): La sindrome degli Insector ("The Syndrome of Insecticons")
• Original airdate: ?

• At the beginning, Bumblebee calls Hound "Bud".
• When ordering the seekers to attack the planes, Megatron misnames Skywarp as Scrapper.
• Spike says that Wheeljack was the one who told him that the Insecticons are going to explode because of what they ate. He also says that the Insecticons have a "stomach trischemia".
• "Iron Mountain" is both translated as "Montagna di Ferro" ("Mountain of Iron") and "Montagna Ferrosa" ("Irony Mountain"). They're both correct translation of the English name.

• Title (dub 2): La sindrome degli Insecticons ("The Syndrome of Insecticons")
• Original airdate: ?

Japanese

• Title: "Insectron Syndrome" (インセクトロン・シンドローム)
• Original airdate: November 29, 1985

Mandarin

• Title: "Chóng Zāi " (虫灾, "Insect Damage")
• Original airdate: ?

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "Síndrome" ("Syndrome")
• Original airdate: ?

Home video releases

All releases listed are in English audio unless otherwise noted.

VHS

2000 — The Original Transformers — Volume 6: Evolution Revolution (Rhino Entertainment)

LaserDisc

1994 — Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers — Convoy Set (Takara) — Japanese audio only.
1998 — The Transformers — Autobot Edition (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.

DVD

2001 — The Transformers — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2002 — The Original Transformers — Season 2 Part 1 (Rhino Entertainment)
2002 — The Original Transformers — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 2 (Rhino Entertainment)
2003 — Transformers — Season 2 Part 1 (Metrodome)
2004 — Transformers — Collection 2: Series 2.1 (Madman Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Volume 6 (Déclic Images) — European French audio only.
2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2008 — Transformers — Volume 04: Stagione Due Parte Seconda (Medianetwork Communication) — English and Italian audio.
2009 — Transformers — Season Two: Part One (Metrodome)
2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
2011 — The Transformers — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory)
2014 — The Transformers — Season Two, Volume One: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

External links

• Full episode script, as revised by Ron Friedman 4th January 1985
• Model sheets and background layouts