Episode #307 Predacons Rising - Transformers Animated - Cartoon


Act I

As the episode opens, Wasp is on the lam again. He obviously needs driving lessons, as he creates headaches for the human drivers in New Detroit as well as the Autobots in pursuit of him. As Optimus puts out the car fires, Bumblebee joins him in pursuit of Wasp. Bee tries to cut Wasp off and reason with him, but Wasp isn't in the listening mood and evades Bee. Sentinel Prime tries next to capture Wasp but instead jumps Optimus, leaving Wasp to drive away. This starts another verbal war between Optimus and Sentinel. The spat is interrupted by communication from Jetfire, who has found Wasp and is in pursuit. Sentinel drives off in pursuit.

Sentinel manages to trap Wasp in a dead end alley, but Wasp throws it in reverse and almost runs over “Sarge Bot”. He can't run for long though. Eventually, the Autobots pin him at an intersection. Wasp vows never to return to the stockades. Optimus tries to convince Wasp that the charges against him are dropped, but Sentinel contradicts. This threatens to renew the verbal argument between the 2 Primes. Bumblebee cuts in and tries to joke with Wasp while telling him Wasp isn't considered a spy. Wasp would rather blast Bee in the face, leaving Bee to take refuge behind Sentinel. Optimus and Sentinel get in another verbal spar, with Wasp taking shots at the 2 between words. The argument turns silly as Sentinel, trying to find a one up, names himself as a “Primer Prime”. In between the war of words, Wasp manages to simply walk off the scene.

By the time the Autobots realize Wasp is gone, he's in full retreat. However, another Autobot manages to capture him, and it's none other than Swoop of the Dinobots. Sentinel commands the twins to follow Swoop. As the 2 take shots at Swoop, it becomes apparent where Swoop is headed... right for Dinobot Island. Even in this situation Sentinel and Optimus find time to trade barbs. Sentinel requests a grapple from the twins. They merge into Safeguard's jet mode and lower a magnet grapple to transport Sentinel, despite Optimus' warning for Sentinel not to follow. Optimus tells Bee that the 2 need to hightail it to the island. Bumblebee asks why the Dinobots might want Wasp. Optimus has a guess, and hopes it's wrong.

Swoop makes it to the island first. Making a beeline for the hidden lab within the island, he “deposits” Wasp right into the waiting heels of Blackarachnia.

Act II

Wasp seems swooned by Blackarachnia... as does Swoop. BA acknowledges she has that effect. She commends Swoop for his capture and orders him to stand guard while her and Wasp “get better acquainted”. Outside, Sentinel and Safeguard approach the island. Sentinel receives a transmission from Optimus telling Sentinel not to land at the island, but Sentinel cuts the communication off, vowing to block Optimus' frequency altogether. Sentinel commands Safeguard to take him down at maximum thrust. Safeguard questions the order, but Sentinel will hear no backtalk. Sentinel gets what he asks for, and probably what he deserves as well. At least he made it to the island. After pulling his head from the sand (albeit only physically), he orders the now-separated twins to get a fix on Wasp. The twins find Wasp, as well as the energy produced by the underground lab. Sentinel puts them on the move.

At the lab, Wasp explains his story to BA. She is busy working the terminals, and only halfheartedly makes out to be paying attention to Wasp. However, Wasp is still too charmed by BA to notice her disinterest. Instead, he admires the pod she is working to activate. She explains that the pod used to be a trans-warp generator, but she has found another use for it. Showing he still has some intelligence, Wasp starts to get nervous when BA tries to tell him about the “good part”. To emphasize the moment, she briefly transforms into her beast mode. Wasp is freaked out briefly, but BA (back in robot mode) connives Wasp to believe her pod can bestow upon him power. You probably know where this is going by now. Ahem...

She continues to sweet talk Wasp with the promise of power to defeat his enemies. He seems hooked until he spots her other experiments. She leads Wasp to the pod and activates the door (a little “MTMTE” jingle is heard as she presses the buttons). Wasp is really worried now and tries to tell BA he's not interested. However, BA's charm slays him and he walks into the pod... still worried. She plucks a wasp from some webbing and places it in a separate chamber within the pod. She begins the experiment, which is causing Wasp a lot of pain... something BA coyly admits she forgot to mention.

The Dinobots, meanwhile, stand guard at the lab entrance. Sentinel, assessing the situation, tells the twins to create a diversion so Sentinel can get inside. Jetfire asks what a diversion is. Jetstorm says to simply blow something up. This excites Jetfire, and both the twins transform into jet modes to comply. While Swoop goes after Jetfire, Jetstorm manages to take out Slag (sorry, Snarl) in one shot with his wind cannon. Grimlock's temper boils (“Me Grimlock... Destroy”) and attempts to fire a shot at Jetstorm with his energo-sword. Jetstorm isn't impressed (“You Grimlock lousy shot!”) and the two transform, with Jetstorm leading Grimlock away from the entrance. Sentinel uses this chance to pull some cheesebot stealth moves and “engages” Snarl. Snarl, however, is knocked offline and Sentinel's lance prick buries him in rubble.

Optimus and Bumblebee are now on the island as well, and Bee is worried that Wasp may never forgive him for what he did. Optimus tells Bee just to apologize instead of making excuses, while accessing his scanners. Optimus can't find Wasp... but he can detect a surge of transwarp energy... something neither bot wanted to hear. Sentinel, meanwhile, finally makes it to the lab. He notes the energized pod and calls out for Wasp. Instead, he is greeted by BA in her beast mode. Sentinel demands Wasp, but BA instead calls him out as being as full of himself as ever. Sentinel is stunned that this “weird organic thing” knows his name, so BA assumes her robot mode. Sentinel draws back a bit and says he'd never have anything to do with a freak like her. She then tells the story of how he left her behind during a treasure hunt to deal with the spiders. Then it clicks to Sentinel's horror who this bot really is.

Sentinel, as usual, tries to pin the blame on others for her fate. BA isn't interested in his excuses. Proving he has a knack to not shut up at the right time, he dribbles on about her condition. All the while, a receptive ear can pick up a rising electromechanical noise in the background. As Sentinel prepares to engage BA in battle, a green glow fills the lab. The transwarp field is overloading. Before BA can do anything about it, the pod collapses and a enormous wasp emerges from the wreck pod. Flying past them, the wasp turns around and assumes robot mode... greeting Sarge Bot.

Act III

Sentinel asks if this “thing” is Wasp. Wasp says he's not thing, he's upgrade. BA explains that she converted Wasp into a technoorganic like herself. Wasp seems to like the upgrade, and dubs himself as Waspinator to commemorate his new body. He wastes no time attacking Sentinel. BA pats herself on the back for her experiment's result, but Sentinel is determined to take her down. She tries to work her charm on Sentinel, accusing him of taking down Elita-1. Horrified, he tells her never to use that name again. He knocks her helmet off with his lance, exposing her head in full. This only confirms to Sentinel that the Elita-1 he knew is long offline and that BA is nothing more than a freak enemy.

Waspinator steps in and attacks Sentinel while guarding BA. Wasp decides to take off from the lab and stumbles straight into Bee. Bee is shocked by Wasp's new appearance. Prime is briefly engaged in the speak between Waspinator and Bee until he hears Sentinel's screams. Running to the labs, Optimus finds BA draining Sentinel's energy. Optimus tells BA that he is fully responsible for what she looks like, thinking that she is still in pity for her accident. However, it would seem that she has grown accustomed to her new looks, as well as her abilities.

Waspinator and Bee are still engaged in dialogue outside the lab. Bee tries to compliment Waspinator on his new looks and abilities. He also takes the time to apologize to Waspinator and asks for his forgiveness. For a moment, it looks like Waspinator might forgive him. Reverting to his original programming, Wasp does indeed forgive Bee, which makes Bee relieved. However, Waspinator never forgives and blasts Bee down the hallway. About that time, it would appear that Waspinator might be going into an overload situation.

Back in the lab, Sentinel is still down while BA and Optimus are still facing off. Sentinel seems perturbed that Optimus knew BA's story. Optimus apologized, claiming he didn't know how to tell Sentinel. Sentinel starts to go on one of his rants again, but BA mutes him with some webbing. Using her ability to replicate, she pushes Optimus out of the way with Sentinel's shield and is off to retrieve her experiment. Optimus grapples her heel and asks why BA did this to Wasp if she was unhappy being organic herself. It's then that the truth is out. BA wanted to use Wasp to make him technoorganic... then see if she could reverse the process... so that she might be able to reverse her process. Just then, Waspinator returns to the lab.

Unfortunately for BA, Waspinator heard her true ambitions and now considers her an enemy as well. Optimus manages to pull BA to safety just before Waspinator lands a blow. BA tells the Primes that Waspinator's transwarp mutation is unstable and becoming critical. Sentinel asks what to do, to which Optimus says to run. Optimus then helps a sheepish Sentinel to his feet. Poor Bee, meanwhile, can't pull himself to his feet without getting ran over; first by BA, then by Waspinator. Bee then hears Optimus calling him and ducks, thinking he's going to get mowed over again. Instead, Optimus is simply asking for Bee to help him carry Sentinel back outside.

Outside the lab entrance, the twins are putting the finishing touches on giving the Dinobots a severe pounding. As the twins wonder if the Dinobots look distractd enough, they notice BA and Waspinator emerging from the cave in full contact battle. Waspinator is about to “squish spider bot” when Optimus lands his flung axe on Waspinator's chest. The blow seems to have triggered Waspinator to go critical mass. Optimus insists that he's not leaving with BA. However, BA spins a web around her and Wasp in order to contain the blast. The subsequent blast knocks all the Autobots for a loop and manages to destroy half the island. Bee asks what happened. Optimus says that BA sacrificed herself to save them. Sentinel thinks she used the transwarp field to warp away. Either way, he's glad they're gone. Sentinel then walks away from the rest in a somber mood.

At the Elite Guard ship, Jazz thanks Optimus for the help. Jazz also expresses his personal regret for having to leave Earth. The twins start to razz on Sentinel's distaste for the planet, but Optimus intercedes. This surprises Jazz that Optimus would stick up for Jazz. Optimus seems to think Sentinel is good, even if he holds a grudge. Sentinel appears on the scene, shaking off his emotions and ordering his crew back on the ship. Optimus' team walks off scene as well. Apologies between Optimus and Sentinel ensue and they attempt to patch some bad blood between them. Sentinel boards the flagship and takes off for home.

The scene turns to a jungle setting. We see that Waspinator is blown into pieces, but miraculously still functional. Not too far from Waspinator is BA, who is slowly coming back online. She is greeted by curious bystanders: A rhino, a rat, a gorilla and a cheetah. This doesn't amuse her one bit.

Thoughts

The episode, on the surface, was to show Wasp's evolution into Waspinator. Most everyone figured for the most part that this event would go down exactly as it did, so it took the spark from the episode a bit. However, there were other bits that made the episode more interesting. The initial feud between the Primes got into full heat during this episode, and some closure was introduced at the end. Waspinator being able to be blown apart and put himself back together is a nice nod to his BW days. And although no new characters were introduced, we got a nice Maximal cameo at the end.

The episode might have been good if people weren't expecting this, but this was hypothesized long ago. It would have been a treat if there was a different take on how Wasp became Waspinator, but as it stands I could only consider this a decent episode... not a great one. The fact that the Dinobots were taken down by the twins without much of a fight was pretty weak as well.

BWBM will guide you through the next 2 weeks, as we come across a 2 part episode entitled “Human Error”, which may hearld the return (like it or not) of Sari.



ReviewerBlitzwing  
DateApril 11th 2009  
Score 7 stars (7 out of 10)  
Reads10412


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