Transformers Prime episode 17: Crisscross

[razin]

Another good episode tonite! Arcee vs Airachnid: Redux!

Heres a link to a good rip, not low res youtube vid.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5OBKM85N

In case some of you were not aware, Darkprime on TFW encodes these within anhour of airing and in HD. His rips are far better then the youtube rips.

See all his encodes here (http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-prime-discussion/365036-transformers-prime-encodes-videos.html)

[UltraPrimal]

I wish I could get a wallpaper of that shot of Arcee and Airachnid silhouetted against the giant moon. Beautiful!

Also, finally Airachnid lives up to her name. Though it's kind of funny how she scans a Huey, but she turns into a Comanche.:doh: It's like someone scanning a Hummer and transforming into a Lamborghini. I can't wait for a toy of her, though. I just love her design.

[KingKal]

Its up on youtube:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtFHFR7MOus&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsHo8L0NDB0&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

[ConvoyGTR]

Not a criticism of this ep (loved the ep and especially the ending), but I really really hate the Bay era of Transformers where despite Transformers being super duper advanced, a single guy with a single weapon of some sort can take down or kill a Transformer. That really bugs the hell out of me and begs the question, if humans can properly defend themselves against Deceptions then what's the point of having Autobots in the show?

[jackwacko]

Not a criticism of this ep (loved the ep and especially the ending), but I really really hate the Bay era of Transformers where despite Transformers being super duper advanced, a single guy with a single weapon of some sort can take down or kill a Transformer. That really bugs the hell out of me and begs the question, if humans can properly defend themselves against Deceptions then what's the point of having Autobots in the show?

We don't make very interesting Toys....

Damn it Agent Fowler, stop giving the Cons cool vehicles to scan. My wallet's crying and the autobots are scared.

[ConvoyGTR]

We don't make very interesting Toys....

Damn it Agent Fowler, stop giving the Cons cool vehicles to scan. My wallet's crying and the autobots are scared.
Exactly. It should be robots fight robot, not humans fighting robots. It really bugs me when I see humans get involved in the fighting. >.<

[razin]

Exactly. It should be robots fight robot, not humans fighting robots. It really bugs me when I see humans get involved in the fighting. >.<

Sure, if it were Cybertron then yes of course I agree. However, they battle on earth, you know, home to humans. I don't recall to many movies/shows where aliens take up hostile residence and the humans don't get involved.

[Tekkamanraiden]

Awesome thanks Razin!

[Dragon Knight]

Not a criticism of this ep (loved the ep and especially the ending), but I really really hate the Bay era of Transformers where despite Transformers being super duper advanced, a single guy with a single weapon of some sort can take down or kill a Transformer. That really bugs the hell out of me and begs the question, if humans can properly defend themselves against Deceptions then what's the point of having Autobots in the show?

As long as I'm not seeing Transformers getting blown away and killed off too easily by them...I won't have anything to complain too much about.

And it's nice that Fowler tried to cover up for Jack, but I don't think his alibi would've explained the terrorists, or the fact that she just witnessed two robots duking it out.

[bedtime]

june darby: milf

[Onslaught]

Cool to see Airachnid as a helicopter and that a new idea was used for spider legs. I wonder if her robot will have some slight differences now that she has a defined alt mode. Either way, great episode. I wonder if June will do anything important on the show now that she knows about the Autobots and Decepticons.

[Evan]

I really like that ending.

Too often in recent years it seems like a human meets the Autobots and says, "Oh you are a giant robot, you say? Sure, I'll help you save the world."

June's facial expressions were spot on. You could see the disbelief in her eyes. The camera angles that looked down on June and Jack made them seem all the more insignificant compared to what June is seeing for the first time. The music is that scene was great too.

This episode really expressed the awe and wonder of what first meeting giant robots must be like, and reminded me of what Transformers is supposed to be about.

[ConvoyGTR]

Sure, if it were Cybertron then yes of course I agree. However, they battle on earth, you know, home to humans. I don't recall to many movies/shows where aliens take up hostile residence and the humans don't get involved.
Of course human are going to defend themselves, but I draw the line when a soldier is able to kill a highly advanced, millenniums year old Transformer i.e. Lennox with a Sabot bullet killing Blackout or a MECH soldier disabling Arcee with one single shot of a EMP gun.

I'm just saying, what is the need for Autobots to defend humanity if humans themselves are perfectly able to disable or kill or destroy any Transformer from something that is as small as Arcee to something that is as big as Devastator?

That's just me, I'm a hater of humans and especially when they can effectively get involved and change the tide of the robot war. I just feel at that point it becomes Independence Day with Autobots, instead of War of the Worlds with Autobots there to help Tom Cruise. Know what I mean?

That's my personal pet peeve on any Transformer show and now I'm going to stop ranting on a minor point on a otherwise excellent episode.

/rant

[Dragon Knight]

^Yeah but remember the previous episode: MECH disected breakdown, and most likely got a big hardware upgrade from the information they got.

[ConvoyGTR]

^Yeah but remember the previous episode: MECH disected breakdown, and most likely got a big hardware upgrade from the information they got.
Good point.

I really hope MECH doesn't make a Headmaster or a Mechwarrior type of armor at some point in the show. That would really drive home the point of how self reliant humans are and how unnecessary Autobots are if humans can adapt that quickly to super advance alien technology.

[SleeplessKnight]

Human weapons will destroy, disable, distract or do absolutely nothing to advanced alien robots as long as the plot calls for it to do one of the above.

[Iacon]

Transformers: Prime Episode 17: "Crisscross"

Huh... it's just occurred to me that I don't think I've ever seen the word "crisscross" written down before... at first I thought the Youtubers misspelt it (really wish this show had title cards... G1S1-retro-chic aside, it just feels wrong that the episode title is never displayed during the actual broadcast... though technically that *is* how most "grown-up" dramas work, so I guess it could be seen as a deliberate ploy t'wards credibility). Really feels like there oughta be a hyphen in there.

Anyhoo, this was another great episode. I love how plotlines like M.E.C.H., Airachnid and *even* June's reaction to the events of "Speed Metal" all coalesce so seamlessly. TF:A may have had a certain quirky charm that TF:P has yet to really recapture (though I kinda prefer TF:P's humour/acting/writing in general, but that may just be me), but the pacing of it's first season had nowhere near this level of positive-feedback-flow to it (stuff like "Nanosec" and "Home Is Where the Spark Is" just stopped the overall plot development dead in its tracks... but I also never saw the appeal of the fourth-rate human antagonists).

The logical progression of M.E.C.H. learning different facets of TF physiology (i.e. pain/optic receptors from Breakdown, scanning technology from Airachnid) adds an element of overall progression and attention to detail (and the scientific method!) that's just really cool to watch.

I also love how Airachnid turned up her nose at the mention of the term "Transformer"... finally correcting an error that always bugged me about the G1 show-- basically, "Transformer" is just an ignorant nickname that humans gave Cybertronians rather than some arbitrarily assumed moniker that Cybertronians would give *themselves* (which of course, makes absolutely no sense... it would be like if we called ourselves Ambulators or Placenta-Users...).

Speaking of Airachnid, I was unspeakably relieved to see that she finally got a vehicle mode. I was honestly worried that Hasbro just gave her that name 'cause they still had the trademark from that (unreleased?) BW playset, and just ignored the fact that the "Air" part was irrelevant. 'Course, I guess it *was* still irrelevant before she scanned the helicopter, but I'm willing to assume that she did actually have a Cybertronian aerial vehicle mode that she just didn't use (those angular arm-mounted armour plate things sure look like they should've transformed into *something*... cockpit, maybe?).

Now here's the cool part-- does Airachnid actually have a beast mode or does she just have two robot modes-- i.e. one bipedal and one octopedal (like the BM Vehicon toys all had wheeled and legged variants)? I'm starting to wonder if she even ever scanned an organic creature at all. For all we know, TF:P Cybertron could be full of 'Bot and 'Cons with octopedal modes. Or *maybe* it's a reference to some unforeseen type of Cybertronian fauna... like the turbofoxes and antrons of G1 that were mentioned but never shown. I mean, given Beast Wars and TF:A BA, we all just kinda assumed she must have scanned some type of alien life-form at some point, but now that we know that the helicopter/aerial mode is actually here "disguise" mode, it conceivably throws that into question. Maybe some Cybertronians are just naturally octopedal, like some evolutionary missing link between bipedal 'Cons and, say, aluminarachids or whathaveyou...

J