Beast Wars Episode 11 - The Probe

 

So far this season, every episode has ended with a Maximal victory of some description. No matter how dire things may seem for them in their battles with the Predacons, they have always pulled through and managed to gain the upper hand. This episode is somewhat of a departure from that, as the Predacons get their first victory against the Maximals.

We begin this episode on the Transformers home planet of Cybertron, where the Maximals express concern about The Maximal's disappearence while chasing after Megatron's crew. In light of this, they send out a probe to scour the galaxy in order to locate them. Rhinox detects this probe, so the Maximals build a beacon in order for the probe to detect them - allowing them to return home. However, this is noticed by Megatron - who intends to put a stop to the Maximal's plans to return to Cybertron.

This is a pretty solid storyline with some pretty high stakes - that being the potential end of the war if the Maximal's plan succeeded. It's established that if the Probe located the crew of the Axalon, then that would mean Maximal reinforcements being sent down to the planet, who would of course then capture the Predacons and then our heroes can return home. It's clear why this is of interest to both sides - the Maximals of course want to return home, but Megatron doesn't intend on returning home to Cybertron as a prisoner, so he wishes to put a stop to this.

The presence of this probe creates an interesting dynamic with Dinobot, who is much less enthusiastic about returing to Cybertron than his peers. This is, of course, due to his initial alliance with Megatron meaning that he will be taken into Maximal custody upon returning to Cybertron. While Optimus reassures him that he will try and ensure that doesn't happen and that Dinobot will be recognised as a Maximal, Dinobot isn't thrilled by the notion since he still views himself as a Predacon. This reinforces the idea that Dinobot is only allying with the Maximals due to them having a common foe.

Cheetor and Tigatron also get some time to bond as they both end up getting captured by the Predacons and taken to their base - meaning both need to find a way to escape captivity. Them both transforming into different types of cat gives them a nice dynamic, especially given that their personalities are radically different - Cheetor being young and impulsive and Tigatron being significantly more mature and calm. It's great seeing them come together at the end to assist their comrades during this episode's climactic shoot out.

Of course, there was no way the Maximals were going to succeed in contacting the Probe. That would mean the end of the show. However, that doesn't make the ending of this episode feel any less bittersweet. Sure, the Maximals all live to fight another day, but Megatron still ultimately won - he destroyed the array that would have allowed the Probe to contact them, preventing them from returing home. Ending the episode this way helps to build up the Predacons as a bigger threat, and shows that the Maximals don't always win. It also keeps things interesting, as it leaves us questioning whether or not the Maximals will win in the end.

This is one of the stronger episodes within the first half of the season. The higher stakes give the story a real weight and the bittersweet ending ends the episode on a memorable note. This combined with the show's usual strengths of the dynamics between the characters and the well directed action make this episode stand out.

Next time: A small Predacon rebellion seems to end the war for good in 'Victory'

Beast Wars Issue 3

 

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THIS ISSUE

After the first issue essentially retold events depicted in the TV series (i.e. the Maximals and Predacons crash landing on a mysterious planet), the second issue instantly began to take the story in a different direction - allowing this new comic to carve it's own identity and be enjoyable to those familiar with Beast Wars and those experiencing this iteration of Transformers for the first time through the pages of the comics. This third issue very much continues down the road set out by it's predecessor, and allows us time to begin fleshing out some of the characters we haven't spent as much time with yet.

The issue begins where the last issue left off with Nyx being captured by the Predacons. As their prisoner, she is being interrogated by the cruel and sadistic Tarantulas who takes great pleasure in watching the Maximal suffer. While the Maximals debate what their next cause of action should be, Dinobot's loyalty to the Predacons is tested as Nyx's interrogation gets more gruesome.

I've been really enjoying the way that this comic has begun to tell it's own story, and this is something which continues throughout this issue. The big character this issue is Dinobot, who finds himself more at odds with the Predacons than ever, something which has been hinted at in previous issues. 

In the first issue, he took issue with Terrorsaur's needless killing during the heist to obtain the Golden Disk, and last issue, he grew impatient with Tarantulas taking priority over mysterious readings than surveying the planet. This all comes to a head in this issue when he takes issue with Tarantulas's methods of torture and interrogation. These tie back to his sense of honour, and this leads to him stepping in and allowing Nyx a chance to escape, officially fleeing from the Predacons as he feels that they no longer align with him. Unlike in the TV series where Megatron simply just brushed off Dinobot's betrayal and made no attempts to go after him, at the end of this issue, he vows that he will hunt down the turncoat and execute him. 

Tarantulas seems to take immense pleasure in his interrogation techniques, describing it as if it's an art form that he's perfected over the years. He seems to have a reputation for this, as when Megatron tells Nyx that Tarantulas will be taking charge of the interrogation, she is terrified. This really plays into the horror of the situation, and builds up Tarantulas as more of a threat. 

New Predacon Skold has been more of a background presence so far, but she seems to take Dinobot's treachery harder in comparison to the other Predacons. We get a sense that loyalty is something that's important to her, which is shown as Dinobot tries to get her to flee the Predacons as well. She refuses as the Predacons didn't abandon her, and she refuses to abandon others. This hints at an interesting backstory to the character which I'm hoping will get played out more as the comic progresses.

Nyx is shown to be made of pretty hard stuff as, in spite of all of Tarantulas's cruel and callous interrogation techniques, she is able to hold out through all of it and not reveal any information that could put her crewmates and friends in danger. Instead, she merely taunts Megatron by saying that history will barely remember him, just like it barely remembers his namesake.

Cheetor hasn't really been given much to do so far in this comic, but in this issue, we can see he is somewhat hot headed and impulsive like his TV show counterpart. After Nyx doesn't report back, he is adamant that she's in danger and that they need to go out and look for her. This not only shows that he's impulsive and not thinking things through, but it also shows that he cares for his teammates.

Optimus decides to wait until morning to look for her, which he assumes is the right thing to do. However, soon after he has a conversation with Rhinox where he questions whether or not that was the right move for him to make. This reminds us that this version of Optimus is thrust into a combat situation that he isn't prepared for, and showing that he's pretty new to the role of commander. Because of this, he has doubts and second guesses his own decisions.

This series seems to be getting better every issue as more and more layers get added to the mix. Seeds are planted for potential future storylines, and we get some payoff from events from the first two issues. I'm incredibly excited and impatient to see where the story will go in Issue 4.

Beast Wars Episode 10 - Gorilla Warfare

 

While producing Beast Wars' predecessor ReBoot, Mainframe Entertainment had to overcome several obstacles. This was down to the fact that, up until then, no one had ever made a TV series using CGI, so it was a massive learning process learning how to make a show using this (at the time) revolutionary technology. One thing that they learnt was how the approach of making a show using CGI is actually closer to live action than it is to traditional cel based animation. This lead to them approaching the show more like a live action show. This approach is something that was carried over to Beast Wars.

This is something which I feel makes early Beast Wars stand out more than it otherwise would have. I haven't been 100% engaged by the stories of a fair few episodes so far, but what makes the episodes so watchable is the way that Mainframe takes the story from the script and makes it work. This is down to a mix of editing, camera positions/movements, the musical score from veteran Mainframe composer Bob Buckley, and the voice actors. These elements are largely what carried the show in the beginning before the scripts caught up later on. This brings us to this episode, an episode with a script that isn't one of the best, but the way that Mainframe conveys the story makes it a fun watch.

While examining a plant, Optimus Primal and Dinobot get ambushed by Scorponok, who plants a robotic bug on Optimus with the aim of making him more cowardly, therefore weakening the opposition and securing the Predacons victory. However, this has an inverse affect and ends up turning Optimus into a 90's comic book anti hero with the single minded goal of blasting the Predacons into oblivion!

For some reason, this episode's story feels like one that would have worked in the original 80's Transformers show. It's a pretty basic plot of 'villains infect the hero with some kind of device that changes their personality' that can be pretty commonplace in these kinds of shows. In spite of this, this episode still works through it's direction, voice acting, and action.

I like how we begin the episode with Optimus examining a plant. After all, the Maximal's started the show as being more like the crew of the Enterprise from Star Trek than a crew of battle hardened soldiers. It makes sense that Optimus is interested in examining the strange planet him and his crew have found themselves on alongside fending of the Predacons. Dinobot, a former Predacon, sees little point in doing this since he feels that the time could be better spent going after the Predacons.

Dinobot's former alliegence also plays a part in the Maximals figuring out what's happened to Optimus, since he's able to determine exactly what the device that Scorponok infected Optimus with does. This episode also forces him to take a step back and approach the situation more like Optimus would and attempt to negotiate with the Predacons for the cure for Optimus. While it fails, it's a nice character moment for a character who's first instinct is usually to rush in all guns blazing.

However, the highlight of the episode is Primal's one bot assault on the Predacon ship. While it's clear that Optimus is not himself, seeing him single handedly fight all the Predacons is incredibly badass, and something which is made to work through the positioning of the cameras and the editing. One moment in this sequence that I particularly like is when he bursts through a wall to grab an unsuspecting Predacon. 

While not one of the stand out episodes of the show, much like a lot of the early episodes of Beast Wars, it's still enjoyable enough to be worth a watch, but you won't be missing out on any major story details if you decide to skip it.

Next time: The Maximals attempt to make contact with a Maximal probe in 'The Probe'