Grill (episode)

« Transformers: Prime ep 35 »
"Grill"
Production company	Hasbro Studios
Airdate	April 14, 2012
Written by	Duane Capizzi
Directed by	Kevin Altieri
Animation studio	Polygon Pictures

Agent Fowler has some explaining to do under the threat of military tribunal and Team Prime's termination.

Synopsis

"Since I joined these bots, I've seen slag that would turn you white!"

Agent Fowler steps into General Bryce's office to provide some explanations. Bryce first asks about Optimus Prime's recent death, and Fowler clarifies that the body the military have is Nemesis Prime, though Bryce has trouble swallowing it. Fowler explains a bit about MECH and wonders if some of MECH's men are special forces like Silas. Under further questioning, Fowler relates more about the Autobots and their war, and his own involvement in helping Team Prime. Bryce asks him to run through the identities of the Autobots in Team Prime, and comes to the death of Cliffjumper. Bryce reiterates that all they have to go on regarding Optimus Prime's recent defection to the Decepticons is Fowler's report, and the current debriefing is a result of concerns about the potential danger the Autobots pose, with the possibility of a military tribunal later and potentially the termination of Team Prime.

"Hey, Sam, you find those glasses ye- Oops. Wrong house."

Fowler insists that the Autobots are very careful about protecting humans, but lets slip about the kids. He quickly covers the mistake by claiming they're civilians working with the Autobots and valuable team members, carefully leaving out the fact that they're minors. Bryce seems mollified, but asks why Megatron hasn't been terminated yet, which leads Fowler to mention Unicron. Bryce decides that Fowler needs a psychological evaluation, though after Fowler clarifies that he didn't say "unicorn", the evaluation is called off. Fowler also relays how both Starscream and Airachnid have gone rogue, and that the Autobots have gained valuable intel from the former. Though he says Optimus thinks Dreadwing could be converted, Fowler doesn't agree. When questioned about Optimus's recent defection, Fowler is confident that Optimus is firmly an Autobot. He mentions the current Decepticon hunt for ancient Transformer artifacts, and has Optimus himself look through the window and converse with Bryce. General Bryce is convinced and dismisses Fowler.

Featured characters

(Characters in italic text appear only in clips from previous episodes.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Others
Optimus Prime (4) Bulkhead (12) Arcee (13) Ratchet (17) Bumblebee (19) Cliffjumper Tailgate	Breakdown (7) Vehicons (11) Decepticon Miners (18) Terrorcons (20) Starscream (21) Skyquake (22) Megatron (25) Soundwave (27) Airachnid (28) Insecticon (29) Dreadwing (31) Knock Out (32)	William Fowler (1) General Bryce (2) Private Daley (3) MECH Surgeon (6) Silas (8) MECH Commando (9) MECH Navigator (10) Miko Nakadai (14) Jack Darby (15) Raf Esquivel (16) Guard (23) June Darby (24)	Nemesis Prime (5) Scraplets (26) Unicron (30)

Quotes

"Soldier, too close."

—Agent Fowler doesn't like close ups of his face

"It defies all logic, Bill. Dark energon? Then you go on record saying that you believe in magical horses with horns on their heads."
"What?"
"Do you deny previously reporting that Megatron helped defeat a unicorn?"
"Oh? That's what you...? Unicron! The ultimate evil! Permission to strike this from the record."

—General Bryce makes the second Unicron/unicorn joke in 25 years, and Agent Fowler avoids a psychological evaluation.

Notes

Continuity notes

• Being a clip show, this episode shows bits from virtually every episode of the series up to this point.
• Like Miko in "One Shall Rise, Part 1", General Bryce mistakes "Unicron" for "unicorn".
• Fowler's dialogue makes a reference to the title of "Loose Cannons".
• This episode finally explains why Agent Fowler doesn't wear a flight suit.

Transformers references

• Fowler notes that Bumblebee got his voicebox torn out during the "war for Cybertron".
• At one point, Fowler refers to Nemesis Prime as a "knockoff".
• Fowler refers to the Autobots as "autonomous robotic organisms"

Trivia

• As previously revealed on the package of the Ultimate Opponents Entertainment Pack, Silas's real name is Leland Bishop. Newly revealed in this episode is his former military rank of Colonel.
• Aside from all the clips shown in this episode, the only Transformer appearing physically in this episode is Optimus Prime.
• A shot of Airachnid screaming Jack's name from "Predatory" is played without dialog, presumably to avoid having to pay Gina Torres an additional fee.
• We finally get an explanation for why Fowler can fly a jet without a flight suit. At some point (most likely before "Darkness Rising, Part 1"), Ratchet modified the air pressure regulators in Fowler's jet. Fowler also makes a comment about the jet being a VTOL, which explains the maneuvers it made in "Loose Cannons".
• Interestingly enough, when Bryce asks Fowler for a headcount of the Autobots, Wheeljack isn't mentioned despite Fowler's knowledge of his presence on Earth (he even had a face-to-face discussion with Jackie!). Maybe he thinks he left Earth? That, or he took Jackie's statement of "I'm not one of Optimus Prime's people" seriously.
• General Bryce mentions that the "five-stars" are upset. In real life, the five-star rank is not currently active in the United States military, being last awarded in 1950 to General Omar Bradley.
• The camera is shown to be on its last battery throughout the episode. The battery promptly runs out as soon as Optimus Prime appears.