Toon Zone Talkback - "Transformers Animated" Season Two: Still Kicking Skid Plate, but Slipping Gears

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sharad

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This is the talkback thread for "Transformers Animated" Season Two: Still Kicking Skid Plate, but Slipping Gears.

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Two ways to really cheese me off: 1) put spoilers for disc 2 in the photo gallery on disc 1, and 2) the Constructicons.

Other than that, though, it's mostly smooth sailing and I'm still looking forward to season 3.

-- Ed
 
Hmm...shouldn't this be in the Cartoon Network forums? EDIT: Oh, I see it's mirrored there.

I've only see about half of the first season. I wasn't particularly entertained, and going from this review, it doesn't sound like the show improves all that much (if at all). Not saying it's a bad show, but apparently it's not for me.
 
I've already got the Transform and Roll Out and season 1 DVDs. So despite the shortcomings, it probably shouldn't hurt to have season 2 in my collection for the sake of completion, right?
 
Most people consider season 2 to be a lot better than the first. The review is the first time I've heard anyone say that season 2 was a step down. (although it sounds like most of it is due to not liking the Constructicons)
 
They're a big part of it (especially because they're the only new characters that recur regularly), but it's more the repetition of stuff they covered perfectly well in Season 1. In S1, the Autobot Learns a Lesson episodes were fine -- Bulkhead is clumsy and misunderstood, Ratchet is a cranky old guy who needs to work on his interpersonal skills, and Bumblebee is reckless and doesn't think ahead. But they all Learned a Lesson about that and moved on. It felt like a bunch of the episodes of S2 have to pretend that none of that character development happened or else they don't work. Ratchet is still Cranky Old Guy in "Garbage In, Garbage Out." Bulkhead is still clumsy and misunderstood in "Rise of the Constructicons" and "A Bridge Too Far Pt. 1." Bumblebee is the most forgivable, since it seems like it's part of his character to be impulsive and not to learn from his past mistakes, but even so, it seems like stuff in "Velocity" and a few others take that a bit too far. It's not that any of this is WORSE than season 1, but that it's the SAME as season 1 when the show should have moved past that. They're staying still or stepping backwards when they move forwards elsewhere.

And, as I said in the review, the Autobots are all turned into complete idiots in "Rise of the Constructicons" for it to work, and was anybody anywhere not able to figure out the Sari plot twist as soon as the words were out of Porter C. Powell's mouth? Why waste the time playing up that mystery when the answer is so painfully obvious?

Oh, and nowhere near enough Prowl. Forgot to mention that in the review.

Maybe it's that the highs are higher in this season, but the lows are much lower. The Elite Guard trilogy that kicks things off really is marvelous. The characters are smart and they learn from things (except Sentinel Prime, but the whole point is that he's a dense, arrogant jerk, so that's OK).

I do enjoy this series thoroughly, regardless of the little things that annoy me about it. I may even try to catch the regular broadcasts once season 3 kicks off.

-- Ed
 
In my opinion, I think that season 2 is just as good, maybe even a little better, as season 1.

For some reason, I like to compare the Constructicons to the characters Gus and Joe from the movie Gone Fishin', as I compare Mix Master to Joe (Joe Pesci), and Scrapper to Gus (Danny Glover). Maybe it's because Mix Master's voice makes me think of Joe Pesci.

Anyway, I'm glad to see that this DVD set has some cool extras, like commentary on two episodes. I hope that my copy of Transformers Animated: Season 2 comes in the mail soon, as I'm looking forward to seeing the episodes from season 2, again.
 
I got to be honest, I really can't stand the new show. I had to watch season 2, and the character designs are really just nasty. Sari and Sumdac are beyond annoying, and the Decepticons just really aren't threatening at all. The show just goes more for dumb gags and humor. Beast Wars and Beast Machines had a lot of humor and humorous bot characters but they knew how to balance it out.

Every episode I keep hoping that they frag Bumblebee.
 
Well it kind of sucks that it's only in a full screen format when episodes were really done in widescreen. Then anyway, I saw all of the episodes in full screen when they were on CN.
 
I loved this series early in 2008, unfortunatly, there are some disadvantigements when it premiered in January, so I considered the show underrated.
 
Really, because I always thought Season 2 could've been awesome, but failed.

One complaint I had with it is that in the season premire, they introduced the following subplots
  • The Elite Guard
  • Megatron's plans to build a Space Bridge
  • The Allspark fragments
  • What exactly is Sari
And how they executed them was pretty lousy. The Elite Guard left after three episodes(I wish Jazz was left behind). The Space Bridge plot was sorta progressed. The Allspark fragments became a cheap plot device to bring in new TFs without them coming from Cybertron. And they hardly touched the Sari plot with no actual developement until the finale.

And I agree, the show needed more Prowl. Not just because he's cool, but also for the sake of character developement. Now that Bumblebee & Bulkhead had their past revealed, Prowl's the only main Autobot with no real backstory. Sure he apparently never finished his training, but why would someone so dedicated in the ways of the ninja not finish his training and end up working on a space bridge repair team?

Since I don't have any of the other TFA dvds, I might not pick this one up. Maybe if I get the first two though.
 
No, Optimus Prime of G1 was a one dimensional caricature of the PERFECT AND FLAWLESS leader. Never hesitated, never afraid. Always knew what to do. He was Bat-God to the extreme. A character without any personality flaws is the epitome of dull.

This guy is a young ship's captain, who is slowly growing into the role of leader. And now, here, the Transformer equivilent of Hitler and the Devil, whom they thought had perished, is reborn right in front of them.

Darn right, he'd be scared. But he still fought him. Believe it or not, courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is doing what needs to be done and meeting that fear head on. And that is why I think this Optimus is more heroic than the G1 bore.

I feel the same way about Optimus Primal on "Beast Wars" as well.
 
And yet this is the Optimus Prime people seem to love and remember the most ;) .



That's if you want to believe this is the G1 Megatron, which I have a lot of trouble doing.



Optimus Primal was a better character since he displayed similar qualities to Optimus but there was still the frustration in dealing with some of the personalities and egos of the team, and he wasn't afraid to lay down the law on Silver Bolt when he was messing around on Black Arachnia. He actually scolded his troops for insubordination.

This Optimus seems to just shrug at Bumblebee's constant and rampant insubordination and not care at all. He's limp.
 
Nice collection of clips. Too bad you don't have the one where Wheeljack shoots Megatron in the mid section. That one looks like he took minor damage but he looked like he was in a lot of pain. Like getting hit in the groin.
 
G1 Prime, he's like Superman, someone to look up to, and I still consider him one of the best fictional characters ever. I understand why they didn't want Animated Prime to be like Prime. But I wanted to him to evolve to become something like G1 or atleast truly able to fight Megatron on equal grounds.


G1 Megatron wasn't a joke, just his cartoon counterpart. I want to go on the record saying that BW Megs is the best. But still, everything that clip shows. This is truly the most pathetic thing to happen to a Megatron. Ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk7sqHdl0Ws
 
Erroneous, invalid, illegitimate, and irrelevant. Optimus Prime originated in the 1980's, and was from which all other interpretations come from. Adam West is hardly considered the definitive take on Batman nor did he originate the character itself. Cullen's Prime is considered the definitive Optimus Prime.
 
Cullen's Prime can be considered the first Optimus Prime, but not the definitive one. Though as someone who didn't grow up with G1, I can't help but feel a little biased.
 
I agree. I really dislike this show. Not because of the designs (though I do find the humans ugly, the stylized art makes for some interesting Transformer designs that don't have to be super realistic like the movie or sharp and blocky like G1, though it could use some more detail). My problem stems from the heroes being mostly unlikeable (Blitzwing and Lugnut are leagues more interesting to watch than the Autobots), and the writing being abyssmal. It seems like every episode involves Bumblebee learning the same lesson over again, or underachieving what could have been an awesome concept (human villains for the Transformers was an awesome concept... but then they give us Angry Archer, Professor Princess, and other goofy characters who would fit better on Teen Titans). I personally don't like "moral of the day" plotlines, especially in an action show, and TF:A uses the concept every single episode.

Going to agree with this. Flawless/perfect heroes are boring, and while I don't like the show, at least this Optimus has flaws and isn't some perfect Messiah.

The Adam West show propelled Batman's popularity into the mainstream; he may have been a comic character, but no one cared until the Adam West show hit the airwaves. Likewise, Optimus Prime was a toy/comic book character before G1 propelled him into the (cartoon) mainstream (though nowhere near as big as Adam West). So it seems valid to me.
 
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