Transformers Prime Episode 65 - Deadlock - Discussion

[Undrave]

I really wish they hadn't spoiled the Bumblebee Talking scene... that would have made the whole thing so much more awesome! Even the death scene.

But I guess Hasbro is taking lessons in spoilers from Marvel and DC ><

[Scrapper6]

It's official, we are all bitter old farts who expect waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much out of a kid's franchise. Smart writing and a clever premise are all they need to hook the kiddies, if we get anything else it's all gravy in my opinion.

Transformers Prime has been getting panned by fans over truly asinine reasons, as if we expect to have some kind of epic opus written for us with sci-fi the likes of Terry Brooks... Or Tolkien.

This is a kid's cartoon show aimed at kids, to expect any sort of creativity in this day and age is beyond what you'd get, honestly. Even the much lauded Beast Wars series had its share of weak and middling go nowhere plots. Rose tinted glasses keep us from noticing the flaws.

That being said... You know what, Transformers Animated spoiled us. There I've said it, when Transformers Animated was around people panned it too, but that didn't stop the fan base from growing and swelling with pride, a clever funny written show the likes of Beast Wars, with some great nods to the fans and a fun time had by all. The animation style took getting used to if you weren't into it, but we still loved it and said it could do no wrong. It had strong chracters, strong premises, strong everything.

Transformers Animated is to Beast Wars as Transformers Prime is to Beast Machines, the poor man's Transformers. A bit of an underdog who performed mediocre in the fans eyes, but unlike with Beast Machines the kids actually enjoyed this storyline enough to support it full out.

Beast Machines is more Matrue than Prime in certain respects comparitively, they didn't pull any punches, and that series finale (up until the great reformatting moment) had some real chops. (The animation quality really suffered when they tossed in that shot of Cybertron with all the people running over the hill, and I for one think that it brings down a rather hopeful Cybertron rescued victory.

Prime however still has it's serious moments, it's truly moving halfs, and I guess since I wasn't spoiled by the Bumblebee voice thing I was pleasently surprised. And the finale has an even better Cybertron restored aspect than Beast Machines had, for one thing the animation quality has improved considerably since then. At the time BM was something, now Prime is something, and in another ten years or so we'll be talking the same about the quality of that year's Transformers series, provided there is one.

Transformers Prime however is not something to be panned, it did not fail at what it set out to do, because at the end of the day all it really had to do was sell toys. And aside from a host of no-show Predacons (until Predacons Rising turns that around one way or another) they've done a fairly good job of doing that.

The story archs of Prime run the gamut of Transformers history, from G1's hunt for Energon and the arrival of new soldiers to the Unicron Trilogy's fetch quests. (be they mini-cons, energon, cyber planet keys or what-have-you.)

About the only problem I had with what was shown was really the overall lack of quality MECH ideas after a while, and how they just tossed aside a potential interesting idea of a new faction that the Autobots would have to deal with and fight against in a much different method than just blowing up the Vehicon press gangs.

Prime as a whole has been a brilliant show, fun, clever, witty, even thought provoking. They handled the concepts as best they could and at least the show's plot points were relevant, and were touched back upon every once in a while.

There are 65 episodes of Prime, there are 65 episodes of Beast Wars and even 65 episodes of Animated, each one a different style of show, each with their clunkers, or things that didn't quite work out as well. That being said, they have all in some way improved upon the story concepts first introduced in the 1980s with the progenitor of all fiction of the modern era.

I look forward to what the future of the franchise might bring, I look fondly upon the past of that self-same franchise and enjoy each era differently. But I do still enjoy it.

I don't think this show 'dropped the ball' or 'missed the mark' or any other cliched issue someone might have with it. I look at it, I might notice the flaws, but I choose to ignore them because at the end of the day it's all about sitting down, picking up a favorite bowl of cereal on Saturday morning and watching the epic battles once again as The Autobots Wage their battle to destroy the Evil forces of the Decepticons.

I guess I'm lucky really, that sense of wonder I had watching giant robots fight against one another never really left me. I haven't grown up into a bitter old man, I still know how to keep the wonder of a child just behind the surface as I sit and enjoy a beloved franchise of this type.

At least this finale beats out the abrupt ending we got in 1987 with the Headmasters. (Plus it featured way more epic fight scenes than that headache, probably because they didn't have to shoehorn a year's worth of new products into a condensed story line, but yeah, you get the idea.)

[Hellboy]

I've enjoyed Prime way more than I thought I would... Especially with the Beast Hunters arc which initially sounded stupid to me. The character designs delivered some of the best figures in my collection and it certainly raised the bar on what we should be expecting of TF toys.
It's been a good ride. I've had fun and looked forward to each episode. I grew up with the classics and, although I still love the characters, the show itself I can't even stomach to watch. Transformers has gotten better with each incarnation, in my opinion, and let's all just sit back and enjoy the shows for what they really are... 20 minute commercials strung together with an age-old story.

[ARCTrooperAlpha]

Originally Posted by Scrapper6

There are 65 episodes of Prime, there are 65 episodes of Beast Wars and even 65 episodes of Animated, each one a different style of show, each with their clunkers, or things that didn't quite work out as well. That being said, they have all in some way improved upon the story concepts first introduced in the 1980s with the progenitor of all fiction of the modern era.

I'm gonna have to call foul on you; TFP has 65 episodes. Beast Wars has 52, and TFA had 39.
And that's assuming we don't count multi-part episodes as one.

[Scrapper6]

Originally Posted by ARCTrooperAlpha

I'm gonna have to call foul on you; TFP has 65 episodes. Beast Wars has 52, and TFA had 39.
And that's assuming we don't count multi-part episodes as one.

Where did Animated get 39 from? Wasn't it three full seasons of 26 episodes each? Or am I completely wrong on that count? EDIT: A quick Google search shows us both wrong, Animated had 42 episodes, shorter run seasons, roughly 16 episodes each season. So not the typical 26 that some shows have, or even 24, but still almost close to syndicated.

Beast Wars while true had 52, if you factor in the two seasons worth of Beast Machines it's around 65, probably a little bit more than that as 13 for each season gives us 26 which would make it 68. If you add BM to BW of course, which in all fairness probably isn't completely PC with the technicalities crowds. (In-spite of the fact that the cast between both shows was pretty much exactly the same, minus one or two newbs in BM.)

[Knockout]

It was really rushed. I can't stand Bee talking. I wonder if Soundwave and Quake might meet. <3 the wreckers as usual. The part when they left was well done. Megatron died too easy. Ratchet staying behind surprised me. And I'm worried about Knockout. I am glad 'King is alright and didn't suffer the same fate as Dreadwing.

[Hellboy]

I'm glad Bee got his box back. I absolutely hated the Bayism leftover working its way into the franchise beyond the craptastic movies. Wish they had done it 2 seasons ago.

[Autobot_Orion]

So we have, megatrons body missing somewhere on Earth, Remaining Decepticons hiding on the moon, Knockout as a prisoner. Predaking on Cybertron up to something, and blackarachnia with her army of zombie bugs on Cybertron. The autobots have their work cut out for them ,in addition to rebuilding cybertron and protecting Earth.

[ConvoyGTR]

That was not bad. Better than I expected it would be, a little rushed and some characters didn't get their closing moments, but not bad.

I was really really glad when Smokescreen went to get the Star Saber, I was like finally Optimus (like his BH toy) is going to get his blade and go head to head with Megatron, but I never expected it to play out the way it did. Unlike others have said, and I can understand why, but I really enjoyed Bumblebee getting the hero moment and finally being able to talk, and getting his revenge on Megatron for making him a beep boop mute. I'm as sick as everyone else is of Bumblebee, but hearing him talk and sound like Bumblebee should was just great and refreshing.

I liked at the end when Predaking flew by and everyone is like "Oh right, that guy. Meh." And no one cared, not the Autobots or the ppl watching at home. Predacon rising lol.

Originally Posted by Autobot_Orion

So we have, megatrons body missing somewhere on Earth, Remaining Decepticons hiding on the moon, Knockout as a prisoner. Predaking on Cybertron up to something, and blackarachnia with her army of zombie bugs on Cybertron. The autobots have their work cut out for them ,in addition to rebuilding cybertron and protecting Earth.

I forgot about Airachnid and her army. They might not still be there, Airachnid might of fed on all of them and then starved afterwards. I hope that's the case, not a fan of the character.

[ARCTrooperAlpha]

In retrospect, the episode was appropriate but boring. The only thing I found most funny was how Optimus kept whaling on Megatron without trying until Bee gets shot. Then it got funnier.

Pshh. Cunning my butt, Megatron. You really suck.