Whew, what a week.  You may have noticed that there have been no updates for something like ten days or maybe three months if my figuring can be trusted.  This is because, in addition to chronic laziness, I had house guests for the past week and was unable to get to the computer.  Here's a picture of my guest:

After finally freeing my bonds and calling the police, I did the next logical step:  I decided to review an old Transformers episode.  So let's get to it!

Believing Megatron dead because of course he absolutely should be because there's definitely no way he could have possibly survived the explosion at the end of the last episode, Starscream takes command of Dr. Archeville and decides to use his super duper generator of great power that somehow he never mentioned before to blow up the Earth and use that energy to power a galactic assault.  Megatron did somehow survive and decides to stop Starscream and use the super generator for himself.  Optimus Prime is having none of that and he shows up just in time to realize that the generator is unstable.  He and Megatron team up to fire the generator into space just as Starscream returns to Earth for the ass whoopin' of a lifetime.

"As I believe the Earthlings say, lay it on me man!" - Optimus Prime to Jazz while trying to sound cool by using a phrase no one in history has ever said.

It's a small point, but at one point Starscream gives the time left to the destruction of Earth, and the timer shows the exact time he says.

Also, this episode marks the first time we see Frenzy, who is clearly red and black.

• The Autobots can actually repair the entire planet?  More astonishingly, it seems to only take a matter of hours.
• During the first battle between Autobots and Decepticons, Optimus orders that every one take cover.  Huh?  The Autobots easily outnumber the Decepticons at least two to one yet they're afraid?
• Also during this scene, Megatron somehow sneaks up behind Prime to attack him.  Given that he's one of only six Decepticons, I wonder how he got out of Prime's sight.
• Interesting that Starscream uses Earth time for his countdown device rather than astroseconds.
• Starscream flies to Cybertron, but enters the command center through the door normally used by the Space Bridge.
• Starscream flashes a badge dramatically to show he's now the commander of the Decepticons.  The problem here is that it's nothing more than a Decepticon symbol.  Big deal, they all have those.
• Why oh why doesn't Megatron just shoot and kill the Autobots while they're stuck in the quicksand?
• While stuck in the quicksand, Ironhide struggles and struggles to get one hand free to shoot some liquid nitrogen.  He finally gets it free, then promptly--and rather easily--pulls his other hand out to aim.  He then must remember that he's supposed to be stuck because he plops his hand back into the quicksand all quick-like.
• At the start of the second Autobot/Decepticon battle, Megatron walks out, looks around, then gets decked by Optimus.  I kind of wonder how he didn't see Prime standing right in front of him.
• Dr. Archeville bemoans his new cyborg state Starscream creates for him, yet he certainly seemed to already be mostly machine in the last three episodes.
• Speaking of which, I guess after this episode the good doctor decided to take an extended vacation because we never hear of him ever again.

CHANGED PREMISES

• The Earth is way more devastated at the start of this episode than it was in the last three.
• At the end of the last episode, Megatron was cracked and battered (but not destroyed somehow).  At the start of this one, he looks factory fresh.
• Lazerbeak, normally the size of Soundwave's chest, is suddenly small enough to be totally covered in Jazz's hand.

ANIMATION FLUBS

• Skywarp mouths Thundercracker's line "He's gone, and so's Starscream!"
• Cliffjumper commends Wheeljack's repair of Teletran I by saying everything's coming in clearly.  Then we see the monitor and it's still static, then it starts coming in clearly.
• When he and Starscream arrive at the secret underground laboratory, Dr. Archeville's normal and robotic arm switch.
• At the lab, Starscream hunches over to order Archeville to open the lab.  Then he stands up as Archeville says the password.  Midway through this, Starscream suddenly and for no apparent reason hunches back over again.
• When the Decepticons first notice the Autobots following them, Skywarp and Thundercracker break formation to attack.  Then suddenly they're back in formation, then attacking, then back in formation once again.
• Every time Optimus Prime transforms it's from one of the earlier episodes that I can't remember right now.
• Thundercracker mouths Skywarp's line, "Don't worry we'll make them sorry they undoomed themselves."

DVD DIFFERENCES

• When Brawn and Gears rebuild the dam, Gears is recolored like Brawn.

- Danimal