Beast Wars Episode 8 - Double Jeopardy

 

Last episode saw our first introduction of a new character with the appearence of Tigatron. That episode did a good job of building up the reveal of the new character and then showcasing him being a badass in order to convince the audience to go out and buy his action figure. This episode sees another new character join the cast, this time joining the ranks of the Predacons. However, unlike Tigatron, this new Predacon ends up taking a backseat as we get a story focused on Rattrap.

After a stasis pod crash lands in an icy region, Optimus and Dinobot go to recover the pod only to find the Predacons have managed to beat them to the pod. After a brief battle, the Predacons manage to get the pod and take it back to their base. Since Rattrap was the one who lead the Maximals to the pod, his loyalty to the Maximals is put into question, leading to Optimus sending him on a mission into Predacon territory to prove his loyalty. After getting ambushed by Terrorsaur, Rattrap surrenders and swears alliegence to the Predacons - is this a rouse, or has Rattrap truly gone over to the dark side?

One great thing about this episode is that Rattrap finally gets an episode focused on him. Up until this point, the character has primarily been utilised for comic relief - mainly making snarky remarks and complaining about the situations he ends up in against his will. This time, we get to see what he brings to the Maximals. 

Of course, Rattrap's defection is a clever rouse on Optimus and Rattrap's part - but what's clever is that we don't know this until the very end of the episode that this was the plan all along. Optimus is the first one to express his doubts of Rattrap's loyalty, which shocks the rest of the Maximals who all vouch for Rattrap. For the whole episode, we're lead to believe - much like the Maximals, that Rattrap has joined the Predacons for good...

Then once Rattrap is alone on the Predacon base, he begins sneaking around, and we find out that his defection was a ploy to sneak onto the base. We don't know the purposes of this, but he does end up finding what he's looking for - a Maximal chip, which it turns out was allowing the Predacons to monitor Maximal communications. At the end of the episode, we then learn from Optimus that the plan was for Rattrap to enter the base to find out how the Predacons were monitoring their comms, and that this plan was to be done in utmost secrecy.

This episode really shows how resourceful and clever Rattrap is - kind of placing him as the James Bond of the Maximals. His small size is useful for sneaking around and investigation, and he seems clever and resourceful enough to get out of sticky situations. While he is also handy with a gun, he's not as used to full scale warfare - which puts his actions in previous episodes into perspective where he was reluctant to put his life on the line.

Terrorsaur also uses this to his advantage, as him and Rattrap proceed to offline and capture Megatron, allowing Terrorsaur to take command of the Predacons. What this episode shows us is that Terrorsaur is way too ineffectual to lead the Predacons. This is something that Megatron uses to taunt Terrorsaur once he breaks free and the Maximals begin attacking the base.

The one disappointing aspect of this episode to me is Blackarachnia - who serves as not only the show's first new Predacon since the opening episode, but also the first female character to be introduced into the show. While she does later grow into one of the most interesting and compelling characters in the entire show, in her first appearence, she doesn't really get given much to do. This is bizarre seeing as the show's primary purpose is to sell toys, so clearly this episode should be making the target audience want to buy her action figure.

This is just speculation on my part, but this might have something to do with how these kind of action toylines are heavily marketed towards young boys, and while girls do enjoy these shows as well, sadly a lot of toy manufacturers tend to focus on demographics and place things into boxes (i.e. girls like this, and boys like this), and assume that boys won't want to buy an action figure of a female character. As an example, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a show notable for featuring a lot of strong female characters, but Mattel never released toys of these characters as they assumed that boys wouldn't want them. Because of this kind of mindset, it's possible that Hasbro wanted to downplay the female characters as they assumed that the boys who were the primary target audience of the show wouldn't want them, so felt promoting them was a waste of time (which might not be so farfetched, given how the show's only other female character barely appears in the show).

In spite of my gripes with Blackarachnia's lack of involvement in this episode, I feel this is a fun episode that allows Rattrap to have a moment in the spotlight after mainly sitting on the sidelines in previous episodes.

Next time: Rattrap ends up trapped alone on the Axalon in 'A Better Mousetrap'

Beast Wars Issue #2

 

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THIS ISSUE

The first issue of IDW's new Beast Wars comics got things off to a great start - retelling the events of the show's new episode in order to get newcomers to this iteration of the Transformers franchise up to speed while also including new elements in order to prevent the whole thing feeling like a complete rehasing to those already familar with the conflict between the Maximals and Predacons. The first issue ended with the two factions crashing on an unfamiliar prehistoric planet, with the characters then taking on the forms of various animals. Following this set up, this second issue instantly begins to take the story in a different direction to the TV series that inspired it. 

The plot of this issue is primarily spent with our various characters investigating their new surroundings, allowing us more time to get to know these new versions of the characters. At the same time, a mysterious alien race observes from the distance - taking a keen interest in the planet's new settlers.

The first characters we get to spend time with this issue are Rhinox and Rattrap - and both characters feel exactly like their counterparts from the TV show. Rhinox begins by surveying the planet with the ship's scanners, and is bemused at to how various different ecosystems which shouldn't normally coexist with each other are able to coexist, and is equally confused about the presence of a floating mountain. This is perfectly in line with how he was in the TV series, where he was the most scientifically minded of the Maximals. He quickly loses patience when he notices that Rattrap isn't paying attention, and seems more interested in the juicy fruit that he's currently eating. 

One thing I thought was intriguing about this issue is the inclusion of The Vok. They aren't named in this issue, but they were the mysterious alien race who made occasional appearences throughout the Beast Wars TV series. Their agenda wasn't really explained as such in the TV series, and what they were after seemed to change every time they appeared. What's interesting is how we instantly see them talking to each other, and they express concern about how the Maximals and Predacons could disturb some kind of project they're working on. However, they are also intrigued about these new settlers, and claim they aren't above wiping out the entire planet if they cause too much of a disturbance. Like the TV series, there's a real sense of intrigue and mystery surrounded the Vok, and I'm interested to see how this is played out in future issues.

On the Predacon side, we get some interesting characterisation for Scorponok. As I've expressed when discussing the TV series, I've found him a bit of a one note character who doesn't really go beyond being Megatron's loyal second in command. Here, we learn that he's one of Iacon's top codebreakers, and we can see that he's impatient with regards to just waiting around on the base, and insists on Megatron providing him with orders.

We also get some moments with Dinobot and Tarantulas. Tarantulas seems to be more interested about some curious readings that he's uncovered than surveying the planet (possibly the Vok), which matches the TV series where he was the character who was the most interested in the Vok. This brings him into conlfict with Dinobot - possibly something which will lead to the character's inevitable defection to the Maximal side. Dinobot wants Tarantulas to focus on surveying the planet rather than whatever else he's investigating, but Tarantulas doesn't pay him any attention - reminding Dinobot that the Predacons only follow Megatron as long as their interests align. Another nice touch with regards to the Predacons is that we see that, much like in the TV series, Megatron is the proud owner of a rubber duck.

For me, however, the character who has really stolen my heart this issue is newcomer Nyx - the Maximal's pilot. I already thought she was a great character based on the time we spent with her in Issue 1, but this issue has made her my favourite character in the comic series thus far. She seems incredibly excited and enthusiastic about the situation she's in, and is ecstatic when Optimus asks her to test out her new bat form and survey the planet. We can also see that she's also willing to put other priorities first since, in spite of her enthusiasm, she knows the ship needs to be fixed and she really needs to stay on board to get the ship back in working order. 

She also gets a fun (albiet brief) chase sequence with Terrorsaur, who ambushes her. We can see from this sequence that, while she's in danger, she's not above making wisecracks as she taunts Terrorsaur for being unable to catch her. This of course provokes the Predacon into transforming back to robot mode, using his wrist cannons to down her, allowing him to take her back to the Predacon base.

This issue is a lot of fun, and does a good job of showing readers that this is not going to be a retelling of the TV series with a couple of new characters thrown in. I'm hooked on this version of the story, and I look forward to reading future issues to see where this story ends up going.

Beast Wars Episode 7 - Fallen Comrades

When discussing a property like Transformers, you definitely need to acknowledge that it primarily exists as a means to sell toys. While various iterations of Transformers have been able to tell a compelling story while marketing said toys, understanding the roots of the brand allows you to understand certain decisions behind things that happen in the various TV shows, films, and comics (most infamously beginning the 1986 Transformers movie by traumatising it's young child audience by brutally killing off most the beloved characters from the TV show since their toys weren't being made anymore).

Unlike the original Transformers series which shoehorned in new characters/toys to buy in practically every episode, Beast Wars has a much smaller number of characters with only a handful of characters in each faction. While this adds a lot to the show's enjoyment factor as it allows for more compelling characterisation and storytelling, it of course limits opportunities to show off what other toys are available. Like I said when discussing the opening episode, the show found a way around this through the inclusion of stasis pods orbiting the planet that would come down whenever Mainframe had time to model a new character. 

Which leads us to this episode, the first episode to introduce us to a new character since the show's first episode. As a result, this episode is the one that feels the most like an advertisment for a toy, but thankfully it isn't something that gets in the way of the episode telling a compelling story.

At the start of the episode, a stasis pod enters the planet's atmosphere and lands on the planet. This is tracked by both the Predacons and that Maximals. Rather than going for the protoform straight away, the Predecons decide to ambush the Maximals instead, with the aim being to take out Optimus, the only Maximal with flight capabilities. When this succeeds, the Megatron sends his Predacons to beat the remaining Maximals to the Protoform in order for them to reprogram it as a Predacon.

This episode is great for establishing the importance of the stasis pods and why they are of interest to both sides. Obviously, the pods contain new Maximals, so the Maximals wish for them to remain within their ranks. On the other hand, the Predacons also see this as an opportunity to go recruiting, and if they're able to beat the Maximals to the stasis pod, they can reprogram the Maximal to a Predacon.

The bulk of this episode is primarily a race between the two groups to see who will get to the stasis pod first. The tension is quite high throughout the episode, since whoever is able to get to the stasis pod first will have the advantage in numbers - tipping the odds slightly more in their favour. What adds to this tension is that the Maximals are at a disadvantage since the one flier they have is out of action, meaning that Rattrap, Rhinox, and Cheetor need to reach the stasis pod on foot whereas the Predacons still have Waspinator and Terrorsaur.

Speaking of which, the Predacons approach to the stasis pods arrival is a pretty clever plan. Rather than rushing straight for the Stasis Pod, they decide to anticipate that the Maximals will have the same plan, and instead opt to ambush the Maximal base and take out Optimus, therefore increasing their chances of getting to the stasis pod first.

This of course causes some divide with the Maximals. Optimus is adamant that they leave immediately, believing that the Predacons will also be heading after the statis pod, and wishing to beat them to it. Dinobot, being a former Predacon himself, of course suspects that his former associates will be planning something, and tries to disuade Optimus from heading out. Of course, Optimus heads out anyway and ends up getting offlined by the Predacons, meaning he needs to stay back at the base with Dinobot and recover while the other three head off after the stasis pod.

A lot of this episode takes place in a snowy landscape. This is a nice change of pace from the more rocky and grassy regions that we've spent a lot of time in during previous episodes. While of course the CGI has dated by today's standards, the snowy regions do look great for 1996.

Now we get to this episode's star - Tigatron. While he doesn't appear until the very end of the episode, he makes a really good first impression during his brief appearence. This makes sense, of course, since the idea of the sequence is to make the children watching want to go out and buy the Tigatron toy. Him appearing at the end is what makes the episode as a whole feel like a toy commercial, but this isn't a negative as the whole show in and of itself is a toy commercial - it's just this moment in particular feels explicitly like the show is trying to sell you a specific product.

In spite of this, it is a great moment. Both groups have met at the stasis pod, and it looks like the Maximals have won. However, Megatron plays upon the Maximal's empathy by threatening to kill some nearby white tigers. Of course, this forces the Maximals to stand down. Then as Megatron opens the Stasis Pod, it's empty. This is when it's revealled that the new Maximal has already awoken - and he was one of the white tigers. Tigatron then transforms and proceeds to single handedly take out the Predacons, forcing them to retreat.

This moment of badassery really helps to sell the audience on Tigatron, and he himself is an interesting character from his brief screentime. His identity circuits were damaged when his stasis pod crashed on the planet, which meant that when he awoke from cryosleep, he was unsure of who he was. His decision to fight the Predacons was made when the Maximals stood down to protect the white tigers. He opts not to come back to the Maximal base since he's more in tune with his Beast Mode, so prefers to stay in the wild. However, he does consider his fellow Maximals to be his allies. This is an interesting direction for the character, and it sets him apart from the other characters in the show.

Another interesting thing about Tigatron is that he initially wasn't going to appear in the show - his place was going to be taken by the character Wolfang. However, he got switched out for Tigatron simply because the Tigatron toy was simply just a recolour of Cheetor - this meant that Mainframe only had to modify Cheetor's character model in order to create Tigatron.

In spite of it feeling a bit more blatantly like a toy commercial near the end of the episode, this is a great introduction to a new character, and in it's own right, is an action packed and enjoyable episode with all the hallmarks that we've come to expect from the show (i.e. strong characters, great writing, and tense action sequences). By the episode's end, the Maximal's have strength in numbers - but for how long?

Next time: Rattrap's loyalty is questioned in 'Double Jeopardy'

 

Beast Wars Episode 6 - Power Surge

 

One of the few complaints I've had about some of these early Beast Wars episodes has been a lack of characterisation for the Predacons. As the series villains, most of them tend to have more of a background presence in the early episodes - being more or less voiceless grunts. This episode, we get some more characterisation for the Predacons and get more of a feel of the dynamics between their ranks.

The plot of this episode involves Terrorsaur discovering a floating mountain which contains a large quantity of Energon. This gives Terrorsaur more than enough power to overthrow Megatron, and take command of the Predacons. These events are observed by Cheetor, who goes back to base to inform the Maximals of this, who then determine that the best cause of action is to detonate the mountain in order to prevent the Predacons from making use of this tactical advantage.

The highlight of this episode is that it allows us to spend more time with the Predacons asides from Megatron so we can get more of a feel for their personalities. While some of these characters have had some sprinkles of personality so far, this time we get to see how the Predacons interact with each other, and how they each react when Megatron is disposed of shows the dynamics within the ranks.

We'll start with Terrorsaur, since he's the one who gets the most focus this time around. A couple of episodes back in Equal Measures, we got a hint of his more traitorous nature when he proposed for a truce with Dinobot - the aim being the two of them could work together in order to overthrow the Predacons. This essentially positioned him as being the Beast Wars equivilent to the original Transformers equally traitorous Decepticon Starscream, who took every possible opportunity to overthrow Megatron and take command of the Decepticons.

Of course, the first thing that Terrorsaur does upon finding the Energon mountain is seize the opportunity to take out Megatron in order for him to take command. He quickly takes out Megatron and then quickly beings planning to attack the Maximals. However, in his arrogance he doesn't realise that this power boost is only temporary, so he quickly needs to go back and get another boost in order to maintain his dominance over the Predacons. Another nice touch is that, when in command, he appears to adopt Megatron's tendancy to say the word 'yes' in an exaggerated way.

Next, we come to Tarantulas. This episode shows a more scheming and calculating side to the character. When Terrorsaur takes on Megatron, he instantly notes that Terrorsaur has never had this much power prior to this. When Terrorsaur is forced to flee, he then appoints Tarantulas as leader in his absence. However, Tarantulas isn't interested in leading, so he just leaves and instead spies on Terrorsaur - hoping to learn the secret of his newfound power and then harness it for himself. This adds an intersting dimension to the character, and possibly hints that he has his own agenda separate from the other Predacons.

So far, Scorponok hasn't made too much of an impression since he's pretty much just a one note character - he's second in command, and he's loyal to Megatron. This is the same here, but what makes it more interesting is that his loyalty doesn't extend to Terrorsaur when he takes over. In fact, he is horrified when Terrorsaur takes out his commander. He's also unhappy when Terrorsaur appoints Tarantulas as second in command. Since Tarantulas doesn't seem to care for the post, he just leaves Scorponok in charge. Scorponok then orders Waspinator, the one remaining Predacon, to restore Megatron. As for Waspinator, this episode shows that he is essentially happy with just being a cog in the machine as he instantly asks Scorponok for orders once he's left in charge.

While this is definitely more of a Predacon heavy episode, the Maximals do get a look in as well. Rhinox is able to show off his scientific knowledge by determining exactly why the mountain is floating since everyone else seems confused about how it could possibly be happening. Rattrap is as snarky as ever, refusing to even humour the notion of a floating mountain until he physically sees it - even doubting Optimus's sanity when he determines that such a thing currently exists. 

Rattrap also gets to have a brief showdown with Tarantulas on the floating mountain. After setting the charges to explode it, Rattrap gets ambushed by the Predacon, and Tarantulas seems to be particularly enthusiastic to take on Rattrap. After all, there is some history between the two of them after Rattrap infiltrated his lair to save Cheetor in The Web. 

Optimus also gets to have a showdown with the overpowered Terrorsaur. This is a great fight since, so far, Optimus has been shown to be a more than competent fighter who is able to stand his ground against his opponents. However, in this instance he finds himself outmatched due to Terrorsaur's immense power, meaning he has to flee from him until Terrorsaur gets depleted of his immense power. 

This is a really fun episode of the show, which shines through the interactions between the various characters and allowing us to see the dynamics between the various Predacons. The story might not be one of the strongest, but like a lot of early episodes of the show, it's the characters and their interactions with each other which makes it shine.

Next time: The Maximals find a potential new recruit in 'Fallen Comrades'

Beast Wars Issue #1

 

WARNING: This post may contain mild spoilers for the recently released Beast Wars comic series.

IDW comics have a long history with Transformers comics, having published several comics since 2005's 'Infiltration' series. To mark the 25th anniversary of Beast Wars, IDW has began publishing a new Beast Wars comic series written by Erik Burnham, who has previously written IDW's Transformers crossover with Ghostbusters.

This is not IDW's first Beast Wars comic, as they have previously published two Beast Wars miniseries in the mid-late 2000's written by Simon Furman. However, those comics took place within the same continuity of the TV series whereas this new comic is a complete retelling of the conflict between the Maximals and Predacons.

The first issue esentially serves as a new version of the show's opening episode with some key differences to keep the comic from feeling like a complete copy. Rather than opening with the Maximals and Predacons in combat, we instead open with Megatron and his group of rouge Predacons stealing the Golden Disk from Cybertron.

This additional backstory serves it's purpose of reintroducing the concept of Beast Wars to audiences, particularly those who are unfamiliar with this particular era of Transformers history. It also puts a new spin on the story for those who are familiar with Beast Wars so the story feels fresh. This time around, Megatron is initially going by the name of 'Galavar', and he begins by informing his superiors in the Tri Predacus council of his intentions of stealing the Golden Disk and then escaping Cybertron, only to then tell them that his operatives have already done so once the council refuses him permission to do so. This paints the picture of this version of Megatron being just as bold as his TV counterpart and, as a twist, has him adopt the name of Megatron after his G1 predecessor.

The Tri Predacus council were a group introduced near the end of the second season of Beast Wars - their early introduction here sets up the state of Cybertron and the Predacons at the time, establishing that while the two factions are at peace, the Tri Predacus council are planning to eventually seize control. 

We get some characterisation for some other Predacons as well. Dinobot, while being a Predacon, is shown to have a sense of honour when he prevents Terrorsaur from needlessly killing a foe when stealing the golden disk. This is setting up his eventual defection to the Maximals. The aforementioned Terrorsaur is also characterised as being pretty bloodthirsty which is an interesting take on the character who didn't go much further beyond 'Starscream stand in' in the TV series.

On the other side, we have the Maximals. Optimus Primal this time around is vastly different from his TV counterpart. He seems a lot younger, and yearning for adventure rather than transporting statis pods and science equipment round the galaxy, even if he is happy to be the captain of a ship. We also learn that he was kicked out of the Maximal peacekeeper acadamy for some undisclosed reason. This is incredibly similar to the characterisation of Optimus Prime in Transformers Animated, which is a pretty neat callback.

Speaking of Transformers Animated, the character designs really remind me of those from Transformers Animated, giving us more stylised versions of the characters from the TV series. This is a welcome and distinct design choice that allows this comic to have a distinctive style from the TV series.

Rattrap is very much the same as his TV series counterpart - being incredibly snarky and critical, effectively providing a sense of comic relief. We also get Nyx, a new character created for the comic and based on the original Optimus Primal toy which took on the form of a bat. She is the pilot of the Maximals ship, and so far, she seems to be a really fun character. She doesn't take any crap from Rattrap when he complains about her piloting skills, and then when their ship crashes and they take on their new animal forms, she seems incredibly excited about her new animal form which I thought was a neat character trait.

One great thing that this comic series appears to be doing is adding two new female characters to the cast. Nyx is added to the Maximals, and Skold (a snapping turtle is added to the Predacons. This is great since the TV show only had two female characters - Black Arachnia and Airrazor, and even then, the latter was barely in the show. Skold doesn't really feature as much in this issue, but the plan is supposedly for her to develop and come out of her shell more as the series goes on. The addition of these characters also helps to keep the reader unsure of where things will go since these characters weren't in the TV series, meaning that there's no way of predicting what will happen to them.

This first issue is a great start to the new comic, and does a good job of introducing things to new audiences discovering the series for the first time alongside providing enough twists and changes for Beast Wars veterans to appreciate. The comic ends with the two ships crashing on a prehistoric planet, and their crews taking on their new animal forms. While the story so far has been pretty similar to the Beast Wars TV show opener, from here the story could go in any direction, and I'm excited to see what form that will take.

Beast Wars Episode 5 - Chain of Command

 

In the opening two parter, the Maximals came across a stone structure that the characters refer to as 'the standing stones' (which is, of course, Stonehenge). It was noted by Rhinox that it wasn't built by the Maximals or the Predacons. This was the show's first hint of some kind of third party being present on this bizarre planet they've ended up on. This episode doesn't delve into that so much, but it does confirm the existence of this third party.

During a battle between the Maximals and Predacons at the standing stones, a buried energon crystal is stuck by an attack by Terrorsaur which causes a beam of light to shoot up into the sky. Later on, some kind of probe lands in the same spot, so Optimus Primal and Dinobot go to investigate the probe. However, upon arrival they are ambushed by Megatron and Waspinator. Before the battle can ensue, the probe awakens and they all end up in stasis lock with Primal vanishing completely. With Primal gone, the Maximals need to decide on who will take command, while Megatron uses this opportunity to his advantage and fronts an all out attack on the Maximal base.

I like that this episode features the characters investigating the "standing stones" as the show calls them, since that was obviously a point of interest/concern for the Maximals when they saw it in the distance. Of course, upon inspecting it, Rhinox determines that the planet's energon is unnatural since it doesn't line up with the geology of the planet.

At this point, I need to bring up something I wasn't aware of until after I posted last weeks post - the order that the episodes were broadcasted in (and the order that the episodes are featured in on the DVDs) was not the order that the episodes were produced in (at least, for the first season). For the most part, this is fine due to a lot of the episodes this season being more episodic in nature, but there are some discrepencies (such as having two Cheetor centric episodes that are pretty similar to each other in a row), and one of them relates to the placing of this episode.

In terms of the show's production order, this is the third episode. This makes a bit more sense since it means that, after finding the standing stones in the previous episode, one of the first things the Maximals decide to do is investigate this. Having it as the fifth episode is fine, as it isn't a massive discrepency, but I prefer it's placing in production order as opposed to broadcast order. However, since I've already started viewing the show in it's production order, it makes sense to stick with that for the duration of this retrospective.

The main focus of this episode is the Maximals being out of their element without their leader. This initially leads to conflict between who will take command. Dinobot, upon reawakening from statis lock after the incident with the probe, immediately tries to take command only for Rattrap to challenge him on this. Dinobot is fully prepared to kill Rattrap to take command, and Rattrap is happy to do the same, seeing as Dinobot is still essentially a Predacon. However, Rhinox stops the fighting and determines that the leadership should be determined by a secret ballot. 

I like the friction between Dinobot and Rattrap, which is something that persists and evolves throughout the series. Rattrap is obviously still incredibly mistrusting of Dinobot, going as far as to suspect him of killing Optimus in order for him to take command. Dinobot of course doesn't take kindly to this. Later on in the episode, Rattrap gives Dinobot an order to reactivate the shields of the Axalon, but Dinobot refuses as he's focused on taking down Megatron. This highlight's that Dinobot isn't with the Maximals out of loyalty, but because he simply just wants to destroy Megatron. 

Rhinox gets some chances to shine this time around as well. He's largely been a background presence up until this point, mainly characterised as being a voice of reason to calm the Maximals when Optimus isn't around. Here, his role as someone more technically minded is fleshed out a bit more as he's the one who points out that the planet's energon isn't natural, and when the Predacons attack the base, he stays behind to contruct a devide that will extract Optimus from the alien probe. This is also the first instance where he gets to utilise his signature weapon - his twin chainguns (affectionately referred to as 'the chainguns of doom' by the fandom).

The victim on the recieving end of Rhiox's chainguns this time is Waspinator. This is the first of many instances where poor Waspinator gets obliterated in some form or another, which will become his signature character trait as well as a source of humour throughout the show. 

This is quite an action packed episode with four big action sequences throughout the episode. Much like a lot of the action in Beast Wars, the action sequences are fun to watch due to their fast paced nature and the way they are filmed/rendered as if it were a live action sequence. The best of these sequences is the battle near the Axalon when the Predacons decide to capitalise on Primal's disappearence. This is particularly tense since the Predeacons have weakened the shields of the ship, and if the shields go completely offline, the Predacons are then free to destroy the ship. It gets particularly tense when Rattrap is forced to bring the shields back online himself due to Dinobot disobeying his orders and continuing to fight Megatron.

The most intriguing thing about the episode is the aliens themselves. We aren't told what they are, where they come from, or what their motivations are at this stage. By the end of the episode, we just know that they are aware that the Transformers are on the planet and that they're aware of their destructive capabilities. Will they come back to the planet? If so, when? Whose side are they on?

This is one of the better early episodes of the show thanks to the character dynamics as well as the mystery surrounding the aliens, planting seeds for future episodes to build upon and adding a new ambiguous layer to the show.

Next week: Terrorsaur gets a taste of power in 'Power Surge'

Beast Wars Episode 4 - Equal Measures

 

Last week, we had a Cheetor focused episode, which made sense since his youthful personality made him the perfect audience surrogate for the show's intended demographic. This week we get... another Cheetor focused episode where Cheetor's recklessness gets him into a sticky situation. The placement of this episode is a little bit odd, seeing as we've had two episodes asides from the pilot that involve Cheetor getting into trouble. However, this is another episode that is salvaged through the characters and how they interact with each other.

When a planned mission to disable the Predacon's crashed ship to gain a tactical advantage is put off on account of an incoming storm, Dinobot convinces Cheetor to undertake the mission anyway. The mission quickly goes awry when lighting strikes a surveilence post that Cheetor ended up accidentally placing close to an Energon vein, transporting Cheetor onto a control panel in the Predacon ship. After a brief scuffle, Terrorsaur ends up transporting to the Maximal ship. Cheetor isn't out of danger though, as he soon finds himself in the sights of both Scorponok and Waspinator.

Plot wise - this episode is very similar to last weeks. There is some discrepency with the way that last week Cheetor found himself held captive by Tarantulas and was nearly eaten, and this week ends up taking on another stupid risk that results in him having to deal with the Predacons. You'd think that he would have learned his lesson from that, but this episode sees him being just as reckless. Like last week, the thing that makes the episode so watchable is the characters and the dynamics they have with each other.

With this being another Cheetor focused episode, it makes sense to start by discussing him. At the start of the episode, he just wants to prove himself and overestimates his abilities. He feels that Optimus treats him like a kid, which frustrates him as he wants to be seen as equal to his fellow Maximals. While he feels that he would be able to complete the mission, Primal forbids it due to how dangerous it would be. This is something that Dinobot is able to play into - after Optimus forbids them from going on the mission, Dinobot preys upon Cheetor's ego in order to get him to partake in the mission anyway. This is enough to get Cheetor to disobey Optimus and plant the surveilence posts. 

This time, the main Predecon of the week is Terrorsaur, who ends up trading places with Cheetor and ending up on the Axalon. He doesn't get super fleshed out, but from what we see of him, we get a sense of his personality and his goals. When he comes across Dinobot upon arriving on the Axalon, his first move is to try and talk Dinobot into an alliance, with the aim of taking on Megatron together and then taking command of the Predecons. This essentially makes Terrorsaur this show's version of Generation 1's traitorous Decepticon Starscream, who similarly had aims to take over command from his leader Megatron.

The other Predecons don't get much focus this episode, with Tarantulus being absent altogether and Megatron only making an appearence at the very end of the episode. For about half the episode, Cheetor finds himself on the run from Scorponok and Waspinator. Here, they just take the form of grunts that Cheetor needs to flee from. Waspinator will eventually become the show's main source of comic relief, whereas Scorponok won't get more characterisation outside of him being loyal to Megatron.

Although he doesn't get as much focus, the most interesting character in this episode is Dinobot. This episode positions him as more of an anti hero willing to take out the Predacons by any means necessary - only working with the Maximals as their aims are somewhat aligned. At the beginning of the episode, he is frustrated that Optimus is calling off the mission since he wants to completely destroy the Predacons with a bomb that he's constructed. This heavily clashes with Optimus who's only aim is to gain a tactical advantage by destroying the base rather than outright destroying the Predacons. Dinobot heavily objects since if the situation was reversed, Megatron would not hesitate to destroy the Maximals.

Having noticed Cheetor's willingness to partake in the mission regardless of Primal's orders, Dinobot then decides to play into this and puff up Cheetor's ego enough so that he'll disobey Optimus and go on the mission anyway. Then after Terrorsaur ends up on the Axalon, he is more than prepared to kill him, but then decides not to as it's more interesting how Terrorsaur ended up there. He feigns an alliance with him in order to figure this out, and then once he does so, he immediately ejects Terrorsaur from the Axalon. He then informs Optimus of what has happened, and Dinobot convinces him to use this link between the bases to send his bomb to the Predacon ship.

Optimus in this episode is shown to be the all knowing leader that he's already been established as, but it's also clear from this episode that he cares about his crew - feeling that going out in a storm for this mission would be incredibly risky, and not wanting to put his crew at risk unneccesarrily. We also see that he merely wants to capture the Predecons rather than killing them, which causes friction with Dinobot.

In it's own right, this is a pretty entertaining episode. However, it's placement in the show's episode order is a bit jarring as we get two Cheetor heavy episodes right in a row and they both have incredibly similar premises, something which hurts this episode a bit more. In spite of this, the character's interactions with each other manages to make this episode worth a watch.

Next week: The Maximals need to elect a new leader after Optimus goes missing in 'Chain of Command'