[Plot Details][Opinions][Great Moments][Caption Weirdness][Rating]

Chain of Command In a Nutshell...
Chaos ensues when Optimus Primal is sucked into a funky alien probe thingy and leaves Rattrap(!) in charge. This is much to the chagrin of Dinobot, of course, who as usual is having delusions of grandeur.

All The Gruesome Details
Warning! Warning! Major spoilers ahead! Proceed at your own risk!
Don't want to read everything that happened in the episode? Well, fine then! Be that way! You can just darn well click here and skip to the next part, you spoilsport.

We open with a shot of the planet's two moons, which quickly pans down to a view of a curiously Stonehenge-like arrangement of standing stones, of which we had previously gotten a glimpse back in the second half of the pilot. Zooming to the inside of the structure we see all of the Maximals, beast mode, all lined up in a pretty little row. Rhinox notes that the stone circle is not a natural formation (Well, duh! You told us that back in the pilot, Rhinox...) while Optimus detects an energon reading in the cairn of stones that's situated in the center of the structure and Rattrap notes that the whole setup feels faintly like a trap, bait and all. Dinobot apparently doesn't give a flying fig how and/or why the energon got there; he just thinks they should take it before the Predacons do.

Well, speak of devil! Guess who shows up in all of his purple glory? Yup, Megatron. He stomps onto the scene and announces that he shall indeed take the energon, thank you very much. "No energon crystal too small," he notes. And he sics the other Preds on the Maximals, who scatter. A battle, of course, ensues and in the end Terrorsaur shoots at the cairn of stones in the center of the circle, sending Rhinox flying (in slow motion, no less) and tearing the neatly-arranged cairn to shreds. Beneath the stones lurk a few energon crystals which start to hum and glow and spark. Megatron notes that the crystals' energy has been released (Well, duh!) and that they are now useless to the Preds. So he's outta there and he takes his merry mechs with him, high-tailing it back to their base.

The pulsing hum of the crystals continues, meanwhile, increasing ominously in frequency and pitch while the Maximals stand around like idiots waiting for it to explode. Optimus Primal lands and kicks their rears into gear, telling them to transform to beast mode and scoot. Behind them, as they run for it, a huge blue glow begins to well up from the stones. And then a column of energy shoots straight up out of the center of the stone circle and hurtles off into space while the energon crystals shatter. When it's all over, Rhinox states again that the stone circle is not natural. (Well, duh!) Cheetor wonders what the heck the whole thing was all about and Rhinox says that it looked like a signal and wonders for whom it was meant. Optimus Primal slaps us across the face with foreshadowing by saying that maybe they'll find out someday...

Yeah...like maybe later that night...

Out in space, an indeterminate amount of time later, the fabric of deep space burps and out pops a funky golden egg-shaped thingy. It heads off purposefully toward the nearest planet. Guess which planet that would be?

Optimus Primal, catching up on some reading outside the Axalon, sees the thing hurtling through the atmosphere and goes, "Hmmm." So does Megatron, who goes off with Waspinator to investigate. Inside the Axalon, Rhinox has the thingy on the scanners, says that it's not a stasis pod or a meteorite, and notes that it's headed right for--dum dum dum duuuummmmm--the standing stones.

It's a lovely night, so Optimus Primal and Dinobot decide to take a stroll over to the standing stones. There they find the golden egg-shaped thingy hovering serenely over the remains of the cairn in the center of the stone circle. "Looks like somebody answered that signal," Primal notes. "But who?" And then he's promptly shot by Waspinator, which incapacitates him, while Megatron stomps around from behind the thingy and announces that whatever the thingy is, he wants it. He transforms to robot mode while Dinobot does the same, drawing his sword and his spinning tail shield thingy. He faces off against an advancing Megatron and Waspinator, bristling with testosterone and ready for battle...

...Except that the egg-shaped thingy rudely interrupts by starting to glow ominously. And then it sends out a wave of blue light which causes all present to scream and spark while nifty white lights shoot out of their eyes and mouths. The probe then "shoots" Optimus, who was just getting up from being shot before...and he disappears! Dinobot, gasping for breath after the thing's assault, groans, "Optimus!" and then promptly passes out...

Next thing we know, ol' Chopperface is waking up in the R Chamber while the Maximals look on. Disoriented, Dinobot mistakes the R Chamber for a "Maximal torture chamber" and hurtles out of it, plowing poor Rattrap in the process. While Rattrap picks himself up and dusts himself off, Cheetor reminds Dinobot that they're all buddies now and Rattrap ponders the usefulness of a torture chamber. Dinobot, meanwhile, wonders how he got to the base and Rhinox informs him that they found him outside the base "scrapped down...and alone" like, as Rattrap puts it, "an innocent orphan in a B movie." Dinobot then wonders about Optimus and Rattrap says they were kinda sorta hoping that maybe Dinobot could tell them what happened to their fearless leader. Whereupon Dinobot reports that Optimus Primal was terminated. While the Maximals react with dismay, Dinobot recounts the events that happened at the standing stones. Rhinox wants to ask more questions, but Dinobot's testosterone takes over again and he insists that they must try to secure the probe from the Predacons. And then he starts bossing Rattrap around.

Rattrap, of course, protests. "Who died and made you Prime, Scaleface?" he demands to know. And Dinobot announces that he's taking over, transforms, and squares off with the Maximals, sword and shield at the ready. Unimpressed, Rattrap draws his gun and sticks it under Dinobot's chin, apparently ready to blow Dinobot's head off...until Rhinox separates them, insisting that they take a vote to determine who will lead, which is apparently The Maximal Way™.

Meanwhile, back at Predacon Central, Megatron emerges from the CR Tank with--since he's a typical male--much melodramatic moaning and groaning. Scorponok reacts with joy at Megatron's revival, while Megaton remembers that Optimus Primal was terminated. He orders Scorponok and the also-newly-repaired Waspinator back to guard the probe. He notes that with Optimus Primal gone, the Maximal command structure will be in a chaos of confusion, which makes it the perfect time to attack.

Back at the Axalon, the vote is in...and it's a tie! Rattrap's insulted that either Rhinox or Cheetor voted for Dinobot while Dinobot, in a rare moment of levity, laughs out loud at the "effectiveness" of Maximal procedures for determining leadership. Rattrap, still peeved, basically accuses Dinobot of doing away with Optimus Primal himself, which sends Dinobot into a Testosterone Tizzy again. In a fit of incredibly clear logic, he insists that he will lead the Maximals even if he has to kill them all. And then he shoots Rattrap with his eye lasers, sending the poor guy flying. Dinobot then squares off against Cheetor and Rhinox, ready to do...whatever...when suddenly Optimus Primal's voice comes in over the comm like the Voice of God.

Optimus reports that he and his body are no longer on speaking terms, that he thinks his body is being stored and scanned inside the alien probe. Rattrap pushes to the forefront and tells Optimus that they're going to come get him, whereupon Optimus warns them that the Predacons will attack (Well, duh!) and signs off. He leaves Rattrap in charge, much to Dinobot's chagrin. Optimus' parting shot: "I'm sure you worked out the chain of command peacefully."

HAH! Yeah, right...

And then the base shakes and the alarms blare--They're under attack, just like Optimus said! (And they say that Cheetor's the psychic one...) Outside the base, Megatron, Terrorsaur, and Tarantulas are pounding the Maximal base's shields with their weapons. Megatron grins in anticipation of an easy victory...

So poor Rattrap has to make his first command decision literally under fire. He decides upon a frontal attack. Dinobot scoffs, of course, but Rhinox backs up his buddy by stating that they don't have a choice. Which is true; they don't! So Rattrap, Cheetor, and Dinobot go off to do the macho warrior thing, leaving Rhinox to devise a device to rescue Optimus Primal from the evil clutches of the alien probe thingy. Rhinox reacts with his customary remark: A dismayed "Oh, no..." But he gets to work.

Outside, the Preds are still blitzing the base. Somehow, they all manage to miss the three Maximals descending from the bottom on the base...and the three run to, in Megatron's words, "meet their deaths face to face." Dinobot squares off against Megatron, momentarily flattening him with a flying kick while Cheetor and Rattrap square off against Tarantulas and Terrorsaur.

The battle rages and eventually Rattrap notices that the base's shields are failing. He yells over at Dinobot, who's closest, ordering him to go and fix them. Dinobot disrespectfully declines, stating that he's busy and he continues to tussle with Megatron. Rattrap begs. Still no response. So Rattrap recalls the primary lesson of the James T. Kirk School of Stupidly Heroic Command (Whenever possible, risk your life to do something that looks heroic.), and he takes matters into his own hands. He makes a break for the shield circuitry, and gets them back online just in the nick of time. They reflect a shot of Terrorsaur's right back at him, sending him flying. Dinobot finally bests Megatron with a point-blank eye laser shot (About time!), sending him flying. Tarantulas suggests a strategic withdrawl back to the standing stones. And Megatron, knowing a lost cause when he sees one, agrees. And they're outta there!

Before the Maximals can celebrate, though, they get a bad case of the energon surges and hastily go to beast mode. Dinobot eats a big ol' slice of Humble Pie and gives credit where it's due (for once), acknowledging that Rattrap was selfless in restoring the shields and admitting that (gasp!) he should have listened to Rattrap. But Rattrap, allowing a golden opportunity to slip by because he apparently doesn't know quite how to respond to a humbled Dinobot, lets Dinobot off the hook with a blithe "Next time." And they head back into their base, no doubt to see what Rhinox has come up with whilst they've been grappling with testosterone.

Well, it must've been good because next scene we're back at the stone circle and the probe thingy. Rhinox doesn't know if his gizmo will work but notes that it's as ready as it'll ever be. Rattrap says that it's too quiet, that he was sure that the Preds would head for the probe.

Well, speak of the devil (again)! Megs taunts "Commander Rattrap," wondering how he'll fare in the battlefield. (Uh, duh! You just faced him on a battlefield a minute ago, Megatron!) A fight, of course, ensues. Rhinox unsuccessfully tries to get Optimus out of the probe while Rattrap, Dinobot, and Cheetor keep the Preds busy. Megs sends Waspinator around to ambush Rhinox from behind, but just as Waspy's approaching, Rhinox sees his reflection in the outer hull of the probe. He turns and unleashes the Chain Guns O' Doom (in their very first appearance) upon poor, unsuspecting Waspinator. The results are not pretty for Waspinator--as usual--and, groaning and short-circuiting, he staggers back against one of the stones in the circle. His sparking body apparently reactivates the circle, making it start to glow. Again. Rhinox finally figures out that the circle is a single device (Well, duh!) as the probe cracks open. Maximal and Predacon alike react with awe and the probe finally spits out Optimus Primal, who announces that he's "feeling Prime." To prove it, he blasts all of the Preds, sending them packing with alacrity.

As Megatron and Company retreat, Optimus turns to his troops, noting that Rattrap commanded well in his absence (And how did he know that? Psychic again!). Rattrap, in turn, says that he'd rather keep his day job. Optimus states that he's concerned about the probe...just in time for it to disappear mysteriously. Cheetor wonders what the "spotted heck that was all about." Optimus Primal figures that whoever sent the probe had learned everything they needed to know. Rhinox agrees, saying the aliens learned that the Maximals have destructive capability and reasoning power. Dinobot, ever the practical one, wonders why the aliens wanted to know anything about them at all and, more importantly, whether they would prove to be "friends, enemies, or something more." And as the camera pans out into space once again, Optimus Primal, that master of foreshadowing, wonders when they'll find out the answer to Dinobot's question...

Ohhhhhh, probably in about...19 episodes... :)

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Nightwind's Unsolicited Opinions

My very first reaction: "Thank God! An episode that does not focus on Cheetor acting like a complete idiot!" Two in a row was plenty of that nonsense, thank you. Instead what we get in "Chain of Command" is an episode that accomplishes two key tasks, and it generally accomplishes them well. It introduces the alien concept and it fleshes out Rattrap's character, giving him a little more depth and making him a little bit more than just a sarcastic and (to me, at this point in the series) thoroughly unlikeable wise-ass.

But let's deal with the aliens first since that is the main focus of the episode, one which, as we all know, becomes an on-going theme throughout the series. And this episode--even without the lines of blatant foreshadowing that poor, unsuspecting Optimus Primal has to utter--manages to convey competently the notion that the aliens will return, that they are perhaps more technologically advanced than the Beast Warriors themselves, and that they will be an on-going threat through the run of the series. Even without knowing what happens in subsequent episodes, we get the sense that the aliens are malevolent--or at least that they really don't give a hoot about the Maximals or the Predacons, that they see them as mere objects to examine under their microscope. All of which bodes well for future episodes, giving we viewers something to chew on.

And, in fact, we get to chew on the alien issue for a good long time. The aliens sort of reappear in "The Trigger" but we do not actually learn their true intentions until "Other Voices" which, as I said, is a full 19 episodes (Counting "The Trigger" as one episode) after "Chain of Command." It was a somewhat risky move on the writers' part, I think, making us wait that long to reveal the nature of the aliens in more depth. "The Trigger" was sort of strategically placed almost exactly half-way between "Chain of Command" and "Other Voices," to sort of remind us that the aliens were out there somewhere and to hint that they were coming, but still it was a risky move... Not all viewers have such patience, I'm afraid... I, personally, applaud the writers for it, however...

Something else that I find rather nifty with the whole alien angle is that their "artifacts" are reminiscent of Earth structures and cultures which some people believe were alien influenced in prehistory. The stone structure in this episode (and the pilot, briefly) is highly reminiscent of a more-complete Stonehenge, of course, which some believe was built by Celtic Druids. Egyptian-style obelisks appear twice in later episodes featuring the aliens. And the characters that make up the alien writing that's on the alien Golden Disk and that we see at various times through the series sometimes reminds me of Anasazi and/or Aztec or Mayan pictograph writing. All of these cultures have, at one time or another, been "accused" of being influenced by extraterrestrial visitors. I often wonder if this is a coincidence or if it was a conscious decision on the part of the writers to use the aliens' artifacts to evoke real, historical civilizations that have an actual "alien" connection...

All in all, this episode is a competent introduction of the alien concept. We learn enough about them to know that they've got a lot of power, and we're left to wonder whether or not that power will eventually be used to the benefit or to the detriment of the Maximals. That alone would have been enough to satisfy me. But that wasn't all, noooo...

Because this episode also gives Rattrap a chance to do something other than moan and complain, which is mostly what he'd done up until this point in the series. While I think it was rather nice that the writers of the series chose to give us a good guy character who was not all sweetness and light, at times in the earliest episodes of the show it was overdone. It was overdone to the point that Rattrap came off looking like, at best, a whiner, and at worst, a coward. But this episode is the first one that gives me an inkling that he will, indeed, become much more than that.

First of all, there's the fact that Optimus Primal leaves Rattrap in charge. That shocked the heck out of me! The only thing that would have shocked me more was if he'd left Cheetor in charge. :) Not only do I get the sense that Rattrap seriously annoys Primal much of the time, but I think Rhinox would have been a far more logical choice. I suppose what it means is that Optimus either sees potential in Rattrap or else he's not nearly so annoyed by Rattrap as he sometimes appears...

Secondly, Rattrap does manage to lead the Maximals fairly well. Nobody dies, at least. :) He seems to rise to the occasion. Perhaps it was only to spite Dinobot...or maybe he does have leadership potential, after all...

Thirdly and most importantly, I was actually very impressed with Rattrap's restraint when it came to Dinobot and the whole shield thing. Rattrap was in command, with the Official Optimus Primal Seal of Approval and all. Rattrap gave Dinobot an order. Dinobot chose to ignore it when he could have done otherwise (Two other guys were there who could have dealt with Megatron for a few moments, after all,). That decision on Dinobot's part forced Rattrap to risk himself to restore the base's shields. Fortunately, it turned out that everything came out well for the Maximals. But in the end, despite the fact that Dinobot ignored a direct order, when Dinobot acknowledges that he was wrong for doing so, Rattrap lets him off the hook.

Some would call that weakness. Some would call it missing a golden opportunity. But I call it good people skills. Dinobot had acknowledged that he'd made a error, surprisingly enough. If he hadn't done so, I'm quite certain that Rattrap would have taken him to task about it. But since Dinobot did admit it, there was really no need for further remonstration from Rattrap. Rattrap must have realized that Dinobot had learned from his mistake so, rather than yell and scream and rub Dinobot's nose in a mistake, Rattrap instead chose to remind Dinobot of what was expected "next time."

The fact that Rattrap does show good people skills in this episode is, to me surprising. To this point in this series, I found Rattrap to be largely annoying and unlikeable. This episode begins to show that he can be more than that. Good people skills make good leaders, after all. More than that, they make likeable and interesting characters...

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Great Moments

Not necessarily a "great" moment, but an amusing one, I think:

It appears that the Transformers back in Optimus Prime's time learned a thing or two during their stay on Earth. One thing, of course, was that humans are generally annoying creatures. The other, however, was that, annoying though humans may have been, they did from time to time come up with some rather ingenious inventions. Just ask the original Megatron; he was always stealing them, after all... But Meg wasn't the only one stealing stuff, it appears. Seems to me that the Autobots, too, stole a nifty invention from Earth and handed it down to their Maximal descendents... And to what might I be referring, you may ask? What simple but useful thing could humans possibly invent that the incredibly advanced Transformers had overlooked?

Why, only the most useful thing in the known universe! Yes, friends, that nifty invention would be duct tape. It can be used to put just about anything together, from a nuclear warhead to a toaster over. And you can even use it on ducts! Imagine that!

The Axalon obviously carried a good supply of it when it left Cybertron, too, for Rhinox uses something that looks suspiciously like a roll of duct tape to cobble together his suck-Primal-outta-the-probe gizmo. (Just call him "MacGynox" :) ) Why this amuses me so much, I have no idea...but there it is.

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Closed Captioning Weirdness
(Or, sometimes what you think they say is not really what they say...)

1. In the beginning of the episode, Megatron stomps out of hiding and taunts Dinobot with, "That Predacon chip still ticks inside your treacherous hide" instead of "That Predacon chip still ticks inside your traitorous hide."
   (Hey, it's fine to call Dinobot a traitor, Megs, but don't you dare call him treacherous... :) ) As Megatron watches the probe streaking through the sky, he says, "Fire incoming stasis pod" instead of, "Flyer, incoming stasis pod."
2. After Dinobot challenges the assembled Maximals for the leadership, Rattrap responds by stomping up to Dinobot, sticking his gun under Dinobot's chin, and saying, "You've been messing with the wrong mouse, chomper face" instead of "You've been messing with the wrong mouse, chopperface"
   (This bit with Rattrap's preferred nickname for Dinobot happens on and off throughout the series' run, but I won't mention it after this. Rattrap always says "chopperface," but it's invariably captioned as "chomper face.")

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Totally Arbitrary Overall Rating, Just For the Heck of It

This is actually one of my favorite episodes of the first season. I find the alien concept intriguing (although later on in the series I feel that their potential is squandered), and I think that the episode has a nice mix of elements. There's a bit of action. There's interpersonal conflict on the good guy side, which is always nice to see. There's character development on Rattrap's part. The Preds are pretty weak in it, showing up only to fight, but that's OK. This is a show intended to be about the Maximals, and that's fine. So I think I'd give this episode an...8.5.