With a tip of the hat to the forum thread for the article name. I had the same idea upon seeing the title of the episode, but they had it first, so credit where credit is due.
And the title of the episode? "Torn Apart."
Also, I know this is coming in a little bit late. I spent most of the back end of December sick, and I'm still not 100%, but I'm well enough to manage this, at least. And hey, I'm still getting it done before TFWiki, so I've at least got that going for me.
Anyway, when last we left our heroes, they were making their way off of Cyberworld... until a mysterious voice told them "No, you can't go yet -- we still have 18 more episodes!" And so they abandoned ship. Probably for the best, it wasn't exactly a very good ship.
But what was that voice? What was its deal? Well, we know it belonged to Wheeljack, but just like Japanese Generation One, we thought he was dead until it turned out he wasn't. And the explanation as to why is a whole lot less convoluted. See for yourself:
Like last time, I'm trying to spice this up with a recap and review of the episode. I mean, at this point, would there even be a point to this post otherwise?
Wheeljack races through a labyrinth of traps and obstacles to reach his lab, where he receives the transmission from Elita-1 from last episode, and transmits the response we heard. Unfortunately, warning his friend compromises the security of said lab, leading to him grabbing what he can and making a run for it.
As he runs, he flashes back to when he was with Elita-1, on the run from Sky-Byte. Sky-Byte catches them, pinning Elita to a tree with energy harpoons and apparently taking a chunk out of Wheeljack via his right arm before disposing of his body in one of the pools before her helpless eyes.
Wheeljack gets dragged along by the underwater current until he discovers a system of tunnels beneath Cyberworld. So he begins to explore his surroundings, researching the area and gathering materials, including some to make a new arm for himself.
After Wheeljack makes his escape, we cut to Optimus, Bumblebee, and Elita, wondering where to begin the search for her friend... and then back to him getting spotted and pursued through the city.
Wheeljack has a real "Indiana Jones" vibe going here. And that's just to reach his base of operations! Well, we see why, once things go to pot after he reluctantly radios Elita to warn her that there is no escape.
I wonder if whatever he dropped was important.
Speaking of Indiana Jones, here he goes swinging through the jungle with an energy whip. I don't think it occurred to me just how strongly they were committing to this until I rewatched it.
Huh... does Elita have eyes for Wheeljack? Does that mean Elitamus isn't a thing in this show? Is Wheelita the couple of this show?
I like how Wheeljack and Elita are compensating for each others' alt-mode weaknesses in this chase. They race on land, she rides on top of Wheeljack. They come to water, Wheeljack rides Elita's boat.
...wait, why does that sound so wrong?
Anyway, looks like maybe Sky-Byte has the power to warp between bodies of water? That, or that's just a thing you can do in pools of water in Cyberworld.
Guess Optimus is wising up to the idea that there's more to Cyberworld than meets the eye. Eh? Eh?
Anyway, poor Wheeljack. He just seems to be having a really bad go of things here. I hope they get better for him.
As an addendum, I've got mixed feelings about this version of Wheeljack, but the good outweighs the bad. I am over the moon at the fact that his ear-thingies now flash when he talks, just as they should! But it feels a little redundant when we see his mouth moving as well. Also, the whole things don't flash, just some lines along them, but I'll still take it.
His car mode looks cool, though maybe not as cool as the original, and that goes for the robot mode as well. I guess the car front forming the chest is okay, perhaps even necessary given the nature of the toyline. It's not bad, I just think he's been done better before.
As cool as Transformers Prime Wheeljack was, especially in looks, he did lack one of my favorite aspects of the original character, that being the mad scientist bit. I feel like this version evokes that more, and even has a certain kind of visible element to it in his arm replacement.
His voice is... good. Not as distinct as the original, and doesn't even feel like it's really trying to evoke it like some of the other characters, but it's good.
All in all, he's not the best Wheeljack I've ever seen, but he's close enough that I really like this one anyway. I might even make the effort to grab his toy if I see it.
As he runs, he flashes back to when he was with Elita-1, on the run from Sky-Byte. Sky-Byte catches them, pinning Elita to a tree with energy harpoons and apparently taking a chunk out of Wheeljack via his right arm before disposing of his body in one of the pools before her helpless eyes.
Wheeljack gets dragged along by the underwater current until he discovers a system of tunnels beneath Cyberworld. So he begins to explore his surroundings, researching the area and gathering materials, including some to make a new arm for himself.
After Wheeljack makes his escape, we cut to Optimus, Bumblebee, and Elita, wondering where to begin the search for her friend... and then back to him getting spotted and pursued through the city.
Wheeljack has a real "Indiana Jones" vibe going here. And that's just to reach his base of operations! Well, we see why, once things go to pot after he reluctantly radios Elita to warn her that there is no escape.
I wonder if whatever he dropped was important.
Speaking of Indiana Jones, here he goes swinging through the jungle with an energy whip. I don't think it occurred to me just how strongly they were committing to this until I rewatched it.
Huh... does Elita have eyes for Wheeljack? Does that mean Elitamus isn't a thing in this show? Is Wheelita the couple of this show?
I like how Wheeljack and Elita are compensating for each others' alt-mode weaknesses in this chase. They race on land, she rides on top of Wheeljack. They come to water, Wheeljack rides Elita's boat.
...wait, why does that sound so wrong?
Anyway, looks like maybe Sky-Byte has the power to warp between bodies of water? That, or that's just a thing you can do in pools of water in Cyberworld.
Guess Optimus is wising up to the idea that there's more to Cyberworld than meets the eye. Eh? Eh?
Anyway, poor Wheeljack. He just seems to be having a really bad go of things here. I hope they get better for him.
As an addendum, I've got mixed feelings about this version of Wheeljack, but the good outweighs the bad. I am over the moon at the fact that his ear-thingies now flash when he talks, just as they should! But it feels a little redundant when we see his mouth moving as well. Also, the whole things don't flash, just some lines along them, but I'll still take it.
His car mode looks cool, though maybe not as cool as the original, and that goes for the robot mode as well. I guess the car front forming the chest is okay, perhaps even necessary given the nature of the toyline. It's not bad, I just think he's been done better before.
As cool as Transformers Prime Wheeljack was, especially in looks, he did lack one of my favorite aspects of the original character, that being the mad scientist bit. I feel like this version evokes that more, and even has a certain kind of visible element to it in his arm replacement.
His voice is... good. Not as distinct as the original, and doesn't even feel like it's really trying to evoke it like some of the other characters, but it's good.
All in all, he's not the best Wheeljack I've ever seen, but he's close enough that I really like this one anyway. I might even make the effort to grab his toy if I see it.
And that's it for now, until.... whenever the show returns!
If you're new to this whole shebang, though, and want to get caught up in about an hour and 35 minutes, here's every episode thus far:
Feel free to talk about this episode here, or the series as a whole over in the Transformers Cyberworld: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART, ELITA! thread in our forums!
