So... we're just doing our Saturday morning cartoons on Fridays now? Cool, cool...
Episode 33, "Help Wanted" (or, for the YouTube algo-kiddies out there, "Bumblebee's CYBER Prison Escape!") is now available for us all to enjoy and pick apart! Here's the official description:
Check it out for yourself here:
And now, your spoiler-filled recap/review.
It doesn't take long for us to go from "Okay, now how did Bumblebee wind up in this mess?" to "Oh, it's just another one of Cyberworld's games. Cool, cool..."
Though, to be honest, if this is meant to mimic any particular sort of game, I'm not sure what it is. Heck, even after watching this one played, I'm not even sure how it works. Bumblebee and Wheeljack are paired off into one team, while Grimlock and Elita are the other, that much I get. How does the whole jailing thing work, though? Do they take turns? Is it like tag? Is it whoever can tap the other side before being caught themselves? What happens if two touch at the same time?
It seems like a fun premise, but I feel like they could have spared one of those scoring moments for maybe a little more exposition, or something.
Anyway, Bumblee (that's not a typo, that's my new pet name for him I made up to avoid admitting I made a typo) tries to free himself from an energy (energon?) cage, to no avail, and Wheeljack chastises him while getting him out for knowing that's not how this program works.
Grimlock and Elita give chase, and the other team splits up. Grimlock tells Elita to go after Bee and he'll go after Wheeljack, and Elita's all "Yeah, yeah" and goes after Wheeljack. It's funny to hear Grimlock of all bots lament about how it's like talking to a brick wall.
As Elita chases Wheeljack, she spots Bumblebee across the way, and decides to break off from her chosen quarry to go after him instead. Weird, but okay.
Bumblebee loses Elita and reunites with Wheeljack, but Grimlock catches them and scores the point for his team.
Meanwhile, Optimus Prime is being led around by the boost core Wheeljack gave him last time, and finds himself in some familiar territory. Which, I mean, it should be -- how many times did they pass through here trying to get past Scorponok and reach the ship?
Anywho, he has flashbacks to when he first arrived: Finding some yellow goo, evading Grimlock, finding Bumblebee. Then he gets up and notes it feels "too familiar," as he has the gunk between his fingers again.
So, curious thing. A cube appears, but before Prime can get it, it gets defragmented and pulled towards this black hole-type thing in the desert. OP says "By Primus," and follows with "Something tells me that's exactly where I'm headed." Does he mean Primus? Or just the black hole? Or both?
Back at the ranch, the two teams are continuing to score points on each other, and we get a clearer idea of how this works, as the red and blue colored auras around each team change whenever they manage to capture the other team. So I guess the blues are the captors, and the reds are the, er, captees? Or let's just go with the hunters and the hunted. Not quite sure how the stars factor in, though. Both Elita and Grimlock have five stars each, so I'm not really sure where you're supposed to go from there. Oh, but then a moment later, they've lost them all.
Yeah, I could really do with a proper explanation of this. Especially if Hasbro ever decides to greenlight the video game version of this show that it so desperately should have.
After Bumblebee successfully traps Elita and Grimlock, he then does the same to Wheeljack. Wha?
Grimlock demands to know what's going on, since, you know, they're on the same team.
Bee then decides to get all nihilistic and deep, asking "What is our 'team'?" and saying it's all just one big joke.
Grimlock is confused, and Elita explains that they found out OP is the reason they're all there.
I don't know if it was meant to be funny, but the tone with which Grim says "OH, OKAY!" makes me laugh every time.
He then asks where Little Prime is, and Bumblebee says "Wherever. Point is, he betrayed us."
And here is where we get what, in my opinion, might be one of Grimlock's finest moments in the show. He doesn't see a problem: They're alive and safe, what more do they want? And besides, they need Prime, as he's their leader.
Elita starts to take offense to that, but Grim explains that she's a good leader who is strong and smart (and compares her to him, which should have gotten more of a reaction. Well, I laughed), but Optimus is the kind of leader who brings bots together like a big family.
Before this continues, there's a critical error, and the game shuts down, and I think it took some of their energon with it?
Meanwhile, back in the desert, OP has switched to his offroad alt-mode, and speeds through a sandstorm (not the Paradron Triple Changer) to another familiar place: Galvatron's hangout.
And guess who's home?
Yeah, Galvatron is the cause of the disturbance, siphoning off the planet's energon. And he's not going to let OP stop him, so moves in and attacks, asking what Prime will do without his friends around.
The others arrive at the edge of the desert and see the device, and Wheeljack realizes that's where Optimus was headed. Bumblebee does his poor Sam Witwicky impression and goes into the "after everything he's done, you expect me to..." spiel. And Wheeljack asks if he'd rather OP was offlined, which provokes uncomfortable silence from Bee and Elita.
Grimlock also points out that if they don't do anything, they'll all be offlined, anyway.
As Elita relents, it looks like they may not be on their own, as the scene cuts away to Starscream, Chop Shop, and Mirage all noticing things are getting glitchy around them.
Cut to credits.
Okay, so overall this episode was... hmm. I guess a hasty resolution to the problem introduced last episode, as we head into the last three episodes of the season. Can't help thinking maybe if they'd had the revelation sooner, they could have let this shift breathe a little more. Maybe give the team time to find out that however they fare, they'd fare better with Optimus there?
Still, I don't feel too upset, because Grimlock was the star of the show this episode. I've always enjoyed him as a leader going all the way back to his second tenure in the Marvel comics (not so much his first), and seeing him show a little of those leadership chops here -- even if he wasn't trying to be the leader himself -- made me smile. I don't know if his role here was meant to be a call back to those time he led when Optimus wasn't around, but it still worked for me anyway. Not to mention, it shows how his respect for Prime has grown since they first encountered each other here on Cyberworld.
Also good to see more of Galvatron, and that he's behind what's going on. However, I also feel like stopping him might wind up being the big story of these last three season one episodes, while more about what they're doing here, what Cyberworld is, etc. will be shunted into the second season. Just a hunch on my part, though.
So, this wasn't among my favorites of the season, but it wasn't bad, and definitely had its high points. If you like Grimlock, then this is definitely one to check out, though.
Though, to be honest, if this is meant to mimic any particular sort of game, I'm not sure what it is. Heck, even after watching this one played, I'm not even sure how it works. Bumblebee and Wheeljack are paired off into one team, while Grimlock and Elita are the other, that much I get. How does the whole jailing thing work, though? Do they take turns? Is it like tag? Is it whoever can tap the other side before being caught themselves? What happens if two touch at the same time?
It seems like a fun premise, but I feel like they could have spared one of those scoring moments for maybe a little more exposition, or something.
Anyway, Bumblee (that's not a typo, that's my new pet name for him I made up to avoid admitting I made a typo) tries to free himself from an energy (energon?) cage, to no avail, and Wheeljack chastises him while getting him out for knowing that's not how this program works.
Grimlock and Elita give chase, and the other team splits up. Grimlock tells Elita to go after Bee and he'll go after Wheeljack, and Elita's all "Yeah, yeah" and goes after Wheeljack. It's funny to hear Grimlock of all bots lament about how it's like talking to a brick wall.
As Elita chases Wheeljack, she spots Bumblebee across the way, and decides to break off from her chosen quarry to go after him instead. Weird, but okay.
Bumblebee loses Elita and reunites with Wheeljack, but Grimlock catches them and scores the point for his team.
Meanwhile, Optimus Prime is being led around by the boost core Wheeljack gave him last time, and finds himself in some familiar territory. Which, I mean, it should be -- how many times did they pass through here trying to get past Scorponok and reach the ship?
Anywho, he has flashbacks to when he first arrived: Finding some yellow goo, evading Grimlock, finding Bumblebee. Then he gets up and notes it feels "too familiar," as he has the gunk between his fingers again.
So, curious thing. A cube appears, but before Prime can get it, it gets defragmented and pulled towards this black hole-type thing in the desert. OP says "By Primus," and follows with "Something tells me that's exactly where I'm headed." Does he mean Primus? Or just the black hole? Or both?
Back at the ranch, the two teams are continuing to score points on each other, and we get a clearer idea of how this works, as the red and blue colored auras around each team change whenever they manage to capture the other team. So I guess the blues are the captors, and the reds are the, er, captees? Or let's just go with the hunters and the hunted. Not quite sure how the stars factor in, though. Both Elita and Grimlock have five stars each, so I'm not really sure where you're supposed to go from there. Oh, but then a moment later, they've lost them all.
Yeah, I could really do with a proper explanation of this. Especially if Hasbro ever decides to greenlight the video game version of this show that it so desperately should have.
After Bumblebee successfully traps Elita and Grimlock, he then does the same to Wheeljack. Wha?
Grimlock demands to know what's going on, since, you know, they're on the same team.
Bee then decides to get all nihilistic and deep, asking "What is our 'team'?" and saying it's all just one big joke.
Grimlock is confused, and Elita explains that they found out OP is the reason they're all there.
I don't know if it was meant to be funny, but the tone with which Grim says "OH, OKAY!" makes me laugh every time.
He then asks where Little Prime is, and Bumblebee says "Wherever. Point is, he betrayed us."
And here is where we get what, in my opinion, might be one of Grimlock's finest moments in the show. He doesn't see a problem: They're alive and safe, what more do they want? And besides, they need Prime, as he's their leader.
Elita starts to take offense to that, but Grim explains that she's a good leader who is strong and smart (and compares her to him, which should have gotten more of a reaction. Well, I laughed), but Optimus is the kind of leader who brings bots together like a big family.
Before this continues, there's a critical error, and the game shuts down, and I think it took some of their energon with it?
Meanwhile, back in the desert, OP has switched to his offroad alt-mode, and speeds through a sandstorm (not the Paradron Triple Changer) to another familiar place: Galvatron's hangout.
And guess who's home?
Yeah, Galvatron is the cause of the disturbance, siphoning off the planet's energon. And he's not going to let OP stop him, so moves in and attacks, asking what Prime will do without his friends around.
The others arrive at the edge of the desert and see the device, and Wheeljack realizes that's where Optimus was headed. Bumblebee does his poor Sam Witwicky impression and goes into the "after everything he's done, you expect me to..." spiel. And Wheeljack asks if he'd rather OP was offlined, which provokes uncomfortable silence from Bee and Elita.
Grimlock also points out that if they don't do anything, they'll all be offlined, anyway.
As Elita relents, it looks like they may not be on their own, as the scene cuts away to Starscream, Chop Shop, and Mirage all noticing things are getting glitchy around them.
Cut to credits.
Okay, so overall this episode was... hmm. I guess a hasty resolution to the problem introduced last episode, as we head into the last three episodes of the season. Can't help thinking maybe if they'd had the revelation sooner, they could have let this shift breathe a little more. Maybe give the team time to find out that however they fare, they'd fare better with Optimus there?
Still, I don't feel too upset, because Grimlock was the star of the show this episode. I've always enjoyed him as a leader going all the way back to his second tenure in the Marvel comics (not so much his first), and seeing him show a little of those leadership chops here -- even if he wasn't trying to be the leader himself -- made me smile. I don't know if his role here was meant to be a call back to those time he led when Optimus wasn't around, but it still worked for me anyway. Not to mention, it shows how his respect for Prime has grown since they first encountered each other here on Cyberworld.
Also good to see more of Galvatron, and that he's behind what's going on. However, I also feel like stopping him might wind up being the big story of these last three season one episodes, while more about what they're doing here, what Cyberworld is, etc. will be shunted into the second season. Just a hunch on my part, though.
So, this wasn't among my favorites of the season, but it wasn't bad, and definitely had its high points. If you like Grimlock, then this is definitely one to check out, though.
But what did you think? Catch anything I didn't? Feel free to talk about this episode here, or the series as a whole over in the "Bumblebee is a little bitch and Optimus is lead around by his balls" (oh, my...) thread in our forums!
