Party Down
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 To be fair, this is what happens at most parties once the keg runs dry. | ||||||
| "Party Down" | ||||||
| Production company | Allspark Animation | |||||
| Airdate | September 14, 2019 (Australia/NZ) | |||||
| Writer | Andrew Robinson | |||||
| Director | Ehud Landsberg | |||||
| Animation studio | Boulder Media Studio | |||||
The Autobots celebrate their newfound victory, but the party quickly takes a violent turn.
Synopsis
As the Ark continues its long journey back to Cybertron, Optimus Prime records his thoughts on his personal log. His musings are interrupted by a call from Bumblebee, who desperately informs him of a "C-class emergency" in Hangar 7, begging Optimus to head down immediately. Fearing the worst, Optimus rushes off the bridge, becoming increasingly worried when he is unable to raise Windblade, Grimlock or Hot Rod either.
Waiting for him upon his arrival is something far worse: a surprise party. Put on the spot by Hot Rod calling on him to make a speech, Optimus tries desperately to say something suitably festive but his best efforts are met with awkward applause. Luckily, Grimlock steps in and gets the party started by praising everyone on the crew for their contributions to their success. As Grimlock works the room making sure everyone is enjoying themselves, Wheeljack arrives with a box and starts handing out badges embossed with a symbol resembling Earth. Explaining that he'd made them to commemorate their time on Earth, he also explains that the badges are linked to his AllSpark energy emitter (naturally connected to the AllSpark itself. Cheetor is unsure on whether that is a good idea, but Wheeljack laughs his concerns off as the badges supply energy that feels like Energon times ten. When offered one, Optimus only observes that the badges are most circular, to Wheeljack's good-natured laughter.
Not sharing in Wheeljack's good humour is Starscream, languishing in his cell in the brig under guard. Ever the opportunist, however, he sees his chance when Rack'n'Ruin come to bring the guards some of Wheeljack's AllSpark emitter badges and accidentally drops them, one of them sliding right into Starscream's cell.
Back at the party, Teletraan-X makes his contribution to the party by deploying a light emitter and playing some good old-fashioned Earth music. As the Autobots get into the groove and start getting down, Bumbleebee invites Windblade to dance, but despite complaining she doesn't dance she eventually gives in. Grimlock accidentally smacks Arcee into Wheeljack's arms, and as the engineer laughs it off he notices his AllSpark emitter badge flicker an ominous red. Before he can react to it, however, his eyes begin to flicker red as well, while the badges and eyes of the other Autobots also change colour...
Meanwhile, Optimus stands alone on the hull of the Ark, enjoying the peace and solitude of space. When his badge starts beeping, he discards it as Cheetor joins him and admits he enjoys the quiet as well. Their quiet time is short lived as Teletraan-X rushes to them, alerting Optimus to a C-class emergency in Hangar 7. Having already fallen for such a trick once, Optimus is in no mood to be made a fool of again until Teletraan-X points out he's incapable of pulling tricks.
As the trio make their way back to Hangar 7, Teletraan-X expresses his confusion as to what's happened even as the three of them enter the hangar to find the Autobots fighting amongst themselves to the jovial tones of polka. An attempt to physically break up the fights proves ineffective, and the trio are forced to flee when the Autobots decide to gang up on them. As Teletraan-X seals the doors to Hangar 7, Cheetor wonders what is causing them to act so savagely. Optimus admits he doesn't know, but he knows who to ask.
Starscream mockingly praises Optimus for the party, but his mocking laughter gives Teletraan-X the opportunity to recover the AllSpark emitter badge he'd grabbed earlier. A quick scan allows the computer to report that Starscream has hacked the AllSpark energy emitter, flooding the Autobots with so much energy they were going berserk. Optimus concludes that their next step is to shut down the emitter.
This is easier said than done, as the AllSpark is being stored on the other side of the ship and by now the other Autobots have broken out of Hangar 7. With no other choice, Optimus, Cheetor and Teletraan-X fight their way through the others and make their way to the AllSpark chamber. Sealing themselves into the chamber, Teletraan-X reports that not only is the emitter's design extremely complex, Starscream's hack included defensive measures. He calculates 42 steps before being able to deactivate the emitter, but Optimus takes the far less complex route of simply smashing the device.
As Teletraan-X collects the now inactive badges from the recovered Autobots, Cheetor observes the entire affair was a shame, as the Autobots were having fun up until they went crazy. Optimus agrees, and seeing awkward things have become after their ordeal the Autobot commander makes a grim choice. Switching the music back on, he walks to the center of the room, clears his throat to get the attention of the other Autobots...
And begins to dance. Their good humour restored, the other Autobots happily join in as the Ark continues on its way, the now useless badges left behind drifting in space.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
Notes
Continuity notes
Transformers references
- Wheeljack's clip-on emitters play a similar role to the energon stars from Transformers: Energon.
- The symptoms exhibited by the Autobots strongly resemble those of the Hate Plague introduced in The Transformers episode "The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1". Rather than the affected's entire bodies turning red, however, only their optics change, as was the case with the plague's new strand in the Beast Machines episode "A Wolf in the Fold".
- The idea of Optimus Prime finding it difficult to relax and have fun is something that has seen traction in both the 2005 IDW comics continuity and Aligned continuity. It was even hinted at as far back as the Marvel Comics Transformers Universe bios, where Smokescreen's bio included mention of how as commander there is naturally a barrier between Optimus and the other Autobots, preventing him from ever truly befriending his soldiers.
Real-world references
- Optimus begins the episode by making a Captain's Log, famously done by Star Trek.
Trivia
- Having last appeared in "The Visitor" looking identical to his time as Deadlock, Drift appears here in a new body sporting his Generation 1 counterpart's traditional color scheme. No explanation is offered for the sudden change.
- This is the first time in the history of Transformers that an Optimus Prime can be seen dancing.
Animation and technical errors
- Despite the aforementioned change in Drift's appearance, he appears in his original design during one shot in the final scene.
Foreign localization
Home video releases
- TBA
