An Explosive Situation: Difference between revisions
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* Kelly's car which is destroyed at the beginning of the episode has a license plate J38-57. | * Kelly's car which is destroyed at the beginning of the episode has a license plate J38-57. | ||
* Kelly's custom XZ-12 sportscar, which she seems surprisingly willing to drive considering it's "the only one left that hasn't been searched" for a bomb, has a plate number J-68-85 (and sometimes J68-85). | * Kelly's custom XZ-12 sportscar, which she seems surprisingly willing to drive considering it's "the only one left that hasn't been searched" for a bomb, has a plate number J-68-85 (and sometimes J68-85). | ||
* Side Burn is able to extend his arm while in vehicle mode. | * Side Burn is [[Half-Transforming|able to extend his arm while in vehicle mode]]. | ||
* Optimus Prime's "[[Super Mode|battle mode]]" debuts in this episode, though he announces "Optimus Prime, Optimize!". For future episodes it's standardised to "Battle mode!" | * Optimus Prime's "[[Super Mode|battle mode]]" debuts in this episode, though he announces "Optimus Prime, Optimize!". For future episodes it's standardised to "Battle mode!" | ||
*The highway damaged by Sky-Byte's entrance mysteriously disappears. | *The highway damaged by Sky-Byte's entrance mysteriously disappears. | ||
Revision as of 01:55, 7 March 2010
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 Nom nom nom | ||||||
| "An Explosive Situation" (Kōsoku Battle! Gelshark) "High Speed Battle! Gelshark" | ||||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS, Studio Gallop | |||||
| Airdate | 12 April 2000 (Japanese) September 10, 2001 (English) | |||||
| Written by | Junki Takegami (Japanese) Tom Wyner (English) | |||||
| Director | Yoshiaki Tsutsui, Akira Katō | |||||
| Animation studio | Studio Gallop | |||||
Predacons need fuel.
So they steal it from a car.
Sound familiar?
Synopsis
A nighttime delivery of a power cell is ruined by Sky-Byte, who devours the truck and steals away the cargo. But the energy he consumes doesn't satiate the Predacon's hunger.
Koji Onishi receives a message from Optimus Prime and rushes outside to be retrieved by the Autobot leader, who brings Koji to the Autobots' secret underground headquarters. Prime introduces Koji to the "proactive cybernetic interface program" called T-AI, the Tactical Artificial Intelligence. The two become quick friends, despite T-AI's lack of a solid body. Optimus explains that the Predacons have been responsible for various battery thefts. The three Autobot brothers, Side Burn, Prowl, and X-Brawn, patrol around in hopes of discovering a crime in progress (although Side Burn is easily distracted by his need to "rev up his engine").
Underwater, in his own hidden base, Megatron mulls over his energy concerns. The Predacon trio arrives with a proposed solution: flashlight batteries. Megatron is unimpressed at how small his henchmen have been thinking. Sky-Byte uncloaks and presents his own, much better idea for powering the Predacons' base: They simply need to recover an energy bomb that some terrorists have hidden in a red sports car in Metro City.
At the docks, Kelly is taking delivery of the last red sports car, which naturally contains the bomb. She takes it for a test drive, and before long is located by Sky-Byte. Unsurprisingly, Side Burn quickly arrives to hit on the car, prompting Sky-Byte to begin his attack. Prowl and Side Burn block the fish, but he swims/flies away and meets with the Predacon trio, who are trying to take the credit for recovering the bomb for themselves. Sky-Byte bites into the car to take it from Dark Scream, shattering the car's structure. Trying to save the automobile, Side Burn unintentionally saves Kelly from certain death. Prowl apologizes to Kelly for letting the Predacons ruin her day.
With the explosive device in his teeth, Sky-Byte gradually floats back towards the Predacon command center, but X-Brawn steals the bomb right out of Sky-Byte's mouth. The rough handling causes the device to arm, and Sky-Byte warns X-Brawn of the impending explosion. Koji suggests taking the bomb somewhere high up, and X-Brawn uses his grappling hook to swing from building to building to the radio tower where he begins his ascent.
Realizing that the blast radius would be larger than the tower is tall, Optimus Prime rushes out of the base. In the city, X-Brawn tosses the bomb from the top of the tower as far upwards as he can. Using his "Power Stream" attack, Prime fires a blast of water at the bomb, carrying the explosive (and Sky-Byte) out of the Earth's atmosphere. Miles above the Earth, Sky-Byte triggers the explosive. The explosion fills the city's sky with a yellow glow, but no buildings are destroyed.
Once he's recovered, Sky-Byte begins a study of human culture but is frustrated by the combined power of the works of Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Predacons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Quotes
"Here's a tip for you: Never ignore a warning from a shark!"
- —Sky-Byte
"Sorry, ma'am. I do apologize for the inconvenience. Are you all right?"
"For someone who's been attacked by a giant flying squirrel and a huge toad, a maniacal shark and a monstrous skunk...sure, I'm just fine."
- —Prowl and Kelly
"What sort of nonsense is this? 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'? Best or worst, make up your mind!"
- —The subtleties of human literature are lost on Sky-Byte.
Notes
- The city the series takes place in is named "Metro City". It is unknown if the mayor of the city has ever been a former pro wrestler. In the Japanese version of the show, the episode takes place in Tokyo, and the radio tower is clearly the Tokyo Tower.
- The radio tower's height is given by T-AI as being 500 feet. The Tokyo Tower's actual height is 1093 feet.
Differences with Car Robots
Animation or technical errors
- Megatron pronounces the Transformers' preferred fuel source as "ener-gone."
- Prowl's Autobot insignia is miscolored when he catches Kelly.
Real-world references
- As Sky-Byte approaches the rear of the truck and begins to take bites out of it, the soundtrack starts playing Jaws music.
- The book Sky-Byte reads from is A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. It's also Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Even the book can't make up its mind!
Transformers references
- T-AI introduces herself as the daughter of the Teletraan I program.
- The Predacon base is powered by Transwarp cells.
- Megatron requests that the batteries be converted into Energon cubes.
Trivia
- This episode about terrorist bombs in cities first aired the day before 9/11. It SO never aired again.
- Sky-Byte's dramatic entrance inside the Predacon base suggests a power of invisibility or teleportation, or both. Whatever it was, he never used it again.
- The truck delivering the fuel cell has a license plate G39-20.
- Kelly's car which is destroyed at the beginning of the episode has a license plate J38-57.
- Kelly's custom XZ-12 sportscar, which she seems surprisingly willing to drive considering it's "the only one left that hasn't been searched" for a bomb, has a plate number J-68-85 (and sometimes J68-85).
- Side Burn is able to extend his arm while in vehicle mode.
- Optimus Prime's "battle mode" debuts in this episode, though he announces "Optimus Prime, Optimize!". For future episodes it's standardised to "Battle mode!"
- The highway damaged by Sky-Byte's entrance mysteriously disappears.
