Yes friends, we're back with another installment of those kooky Transformers, and their nonstop onslaught of mishap wackiness!  Sorry it's been so long, I've been experiencing trouble with my video capture card, but rest assured, the problem is fixed and we can get back to the fun!  To make up for it though, this episode, "Roll for It," features the debut of the most beloved of all characters in the Transformers world:  Chip Chase, that charming little wheelchair bound genius.

Megatron invades the lab of Dr. Alcazar in an attempt to steal his antimatter formula.  But Dr. Alcazar secretly uploaded the formula to the computer of Chip Chase, one of Spike's friends.  Megatron discovers this and abducts Chip, steals the formula, and uses it to make antimatter energon, which makes him super powerful.  Luckily, with Chip's help, the Autobots are able to take control of Skywarp, driving off the Decepticons and destroying the antimatter energon.

"R-Really?" - Rumble, genuinely happy when Mirage tells him that saying that there's static in his rectifiers was the smartest thing he's said all day.

• Megatron contacts Starscream at the start of the episode to inform him that they will attack the laboratory "as planned."  When exactly did they make this plan?  The last time they spoke, Megatron was planning on sending energon to Cybertron via the Space Bridge.
• Once again, this "astroseconds" business makes little sense.  Megatron tells Starscream that they'll attack the laboratory in five billion astroseconds.  Five BILLION astroseconds?!?  Come on, there's got to be a larger unit of measurement he could have used.
• As Megatron departs Cybertron via the Space Bridge, Shockwave shows a large amount of sarcasm when he tells Megatron to have a pleasant journey.  Shockwave always used to be loyal, what happened there?
• Megatron spends a large amount of time insulting humans for being inferior and primitive, yet he can't figure out how to make antimatter for himself, he needs a human to do it for him.
• Prowl's battle computer goes down during battle, so he links up with Chip Chase's computer.  Then Chip proceeds to control Prowl's every movement.  Huh?  A complex Autobot controlled by a home computer?  The oddest part is that Chip seems to know exactly what he's doing.
• Also, under Chip's guidance, Prowl proceeds to completely demolish the entire base and the jets inside.  Again with the Autobots wanting to protect humans, yet destroying their stuff at every turn.
• When the Decepticons come to get the formula from Chip, he rips up the floppy disk with his bare hands.  I guess all that wheeling around has really strengthened up his forearms, because those things are exceedingly hard to tear.
• Early on, Reflector watches a guard punch in the secret code to gain access to the lab.  When the Decepticons arrive to break in, the code Reflector punches in is totally different from the one the guard used.  Of course, no one knows why they couldn't just break down the door.  They don't seem to have a problem doing it any other time.
• Speaking of breaking stuff, the Autobots run amuck in the laboratory.  They break the windows during their escape, Optimus Prime blasts through the outside gate, and the Autobots each break a hole in the wall of the lab to gain access (not just one hole that they could all run through).  Of course, that scene's a little silly because the hallway in which they're running leads to a wall, rather than a door.
• At the end of the episode, Starscream refers to "the antimatter gun."  It's not an antimatter gun, it's Megatron at full power.

CHANGED PREMISES

• This episode seems to pick up right where "Transport to Oblivion" left off.  At the end of that episode, Starscream flies away with Skywarp and Soundwave.  At the start of this episode, it's Thundercracker and Soundwave.
• Soundwave now opens his cassette door to release energon cubes.
• Brawn's voice is totally different from this episode forward.
• Good old "never retreat" Starscream has no problem retreating not once, but twice in this episode.
• Bumblebee flies into the lab, even though the Autobots can't fly...usually.
• Sunstreaker's voice is also totally different in this episode, and in fact it seems to change from line to line.
• The sides of Wheeljack's face glow orange instead of blue when he talks.

ANIMATION FLUBS

• After arriving at the electrical plant at the start of the episode, Thundercracker turns into Skywarp, and he and Starscream switch places.
• As the Decepticons retreat from the plant, Thundercracker turns into Skywarp.
• As the Decepticons escape, Bluestreak fires on them in robot mode.  Then Optimus Prime says something to him in a far shot, and suddenly it's Prowl.  Then in the close up, he's back to being Bluestreak.  Then in the far shot it's Prowl again.
• When Megatron contacts Starscream and Thundercracker, Thundercracker becomes Skywarp (again).
• When Chip and Spike arrive at the lab, the guard's voice changes between the lines "Hi Chip" and "welcome back."
• As Chip first enters the labs, the motion of his hands would make his chair go backward, but he still manages to go forward.
• When the Decepticon jets steal parts from the air base, the parts start out dull gray, like a normal Earth jet, but then instantly become the correct color for their color schemes.
• When Prowl and Bluestreak arrive at the air base, Prowl mouths Bluestreak's line "Sure can't, manifold mouth."  Also, the two Autobots are looking at each other as they hurl insults at the Decepticons.
• After Thundercracker gets shot, he turns into Skywarp (yet again).
• As has become the standard in this episode, when the Decepticons retreat from the air base, Thundercracker becomes Skywarp.
• When Soundwave congratulates Ravage on kidnapping Chip, his line "Excellent, Ravage" has no processing on it, making him sound suspiciously like Dr. Klaw from Inspector Gadget.
• All kinds of Autobots appear and disappear at the lab.  One of the few who is there throughout the whole attack is Ratchet, who somehow is also still back at the base awaiting the Autobots' return.
• At the end, to power up, Megatron inserts two antimatter energon cubes, but he ejects four cubes when he starts to overload.

CORRECTIONS

• Let's talk again a bit about vocal processing, this time Soundwave's.  Let me reiterate that the effect on the Transformer's voices is not flanging.  However, this goes doubly for Soundwave, whose voice got an extra bit of processing to make it monotone.  This effect was not achieved using a flanger, or any other effect for that matter.  It was done using a vocoder.  A vocoder is a synthesizer which, rather than being triggered by the pressing of keys, is triggered by someone's voice.  The result is a synthesizer which "talks."  Frank Welker would do his Dr. Klaw voice which was then run into a vocoder, and the monotone sound would come out, giving Soundwave his unique voice.

- Danimal