This Is Why I Hate Machines

« Transformers Animated ep 40 »
"This Is Why I Hate Machines"
Airdate	May 9, 2009
Written by	Rob Hoegee
Directed by	Kalvin Lee Yutaka Hirata
Animation studio	Mook

A space bridge accident sends Ratchet and Captain Fanzone to Cybertron, right as the Decepticon controlled Omega Supreme arrives.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Ratchet (1) Huffer (3) Glyph (4) Powerglide (5) Hubcap (6) Tap-Out (7) Grandus (8) Flareup (9) Sentinel Prime (10) Tracks (11) Jazz (12) Jetfire (13) Jetstorm (14) Omega Supreme (15) Perceptor (20) Alpha Trion (21) Rattletrap (22) Arcee (23) Ultra Magnus (24)	Megatron (16) Starscream (17) Lugnut (18) Shockwave (19)	Captain Fanzone (2)

Notes

Transformers references

• Ratchet's favorite hangout is Maccadam's Old Oil House.

• Rattletrap sounds just like Lou Costello, which is a reasonable approximation (and probable inspiration) for the voice of Beast Wars Rattrap. Rattletrap's name and design also takes from Rattrap, of course, but specifically his vehicular Dawn of Future's Past body.

• At the end of the episode, Shockwave turns into his "true colors" purple form, represented by a Target exclusive redeco reminiscent of the G1 namesake's color scheme.

• Speaking of Target, when Ratchet and Fanzone are headed to Maccadam's, they stop in front of a building which appears to have Target's trademark "bull's-eye" logo.

• The Autobot Council's headquarters is known as "Metroplex", and the Elite Guard's battle station is "Fortress Maximus".

Real-world references

• Sentinel Prime's broadcast was based on The Red Scare during the Cold War. The broadcast concludes with him saying "I'm Sentinel Prime and I approve this message"--in the style of contemporary political campaign ads.
• Sentinel's insistence that he is the one who "makes the tough decisions" and insistence that any questioning of his orders is tantamount to treason is probably some kind of statement about someone or something, but we'll leave it at that. Seriously. We will.
• Shockwave's slow, deadpan delivery of "I'm afraid I can't let you do that" is a reference to the menacing supercomputer HAL from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey... which also featured an unblinking single red "eye".

• Rattletrap is an underworld informant--you might say, a "rat".

Trivia

• This is the first episode in which Optimus Prime does not appear in at all.
• There is oxygen on Cybertron. Probably to allow combustion to happen.