Coming of the Fuzors In a Nutshell...
It's "A Fistful of Fuzors" as two funky new characters — Silverbolt and Quickstrike — arrive on the scene while Rhinox goes on a vision quest to channel the spirit of Optimus Primal.

All The Gruesome Details

Warning! Warning! Major spoilers ahead!

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.

"The thunder rolls. And the lightning strikes. Another love grows cold on this sleepless ni-iiiight!" Sorry, can't help myself. That song always pops into my head when seeing the close of "Aftermath."... Anyway, on with the show...

Ewwww, what a lovely landscape... A scorpion scuttles down and along the twisted remains of a tree. Under the glare of the (now single) full moon lies a laid-to-waste landscape scattered with funky, twisted-looking rocks, skeletal trees, and...sizzling, sparking stasis pods? Yup! They did all come tumbling down in the Great Torching of "Other Voices," after all. And apparently, not all of them had happy landings...

Meanwhile, over at Predacon Central, alarms are blaring, announcing the presence of the two stasis pods. Megatron and Inferno scurry out to fetch them while Waspinator contemplates the single moon. After a few seconds of thought, it apparently starts to look familiar to our perhaps not-so-dimwitted friend, and he scoots back into the base declaring that, "Waspinator knows!"

And he ain't the only one moon-watchin', either. Dinobot's near the Predacon base, grumbling at it when he turns to look thoughtfully at the moon, too. His contemplation is interrupted, however, by a Predacon autogun that sends him flying. He lands near a puddle of bubbling mud which gives him an idea, and a very dirty one at that... Oh, not that kind of dirty, you perverts! He merely seems to think that if he covers himself with mud, then the autoguns won't be able to detect his Maximal energy signature. (Though I don't really see why that would be so...I should think that a thin coating of mud wouldn't so easily cover an energy signature...) But I guess I'm wrong as usual, since it does work. Dinobot's able to get close enough to the autogun to destroy it and then, presumably, head off into the Predacon base (Though why there would only be that one autogun between Dinobot and the Predacon base is also beyond me... )

Meawhile, Waspy's arrived at the location of the Golden Disks, hanging within their protective force field. He transforms, lands, and reaches out as if to grab the disks through the force field, only to be zapped by the force field. The zap send him flying backwards, and he looks up to see the dirty Dinobot. Dinobot pulls him up by the throat, shoot Waspinator's gun out of his hand with eye lasers, and asks him if he saw the moon. Indeed Waspinator has and both he and Dinobot have come to the startling conclusion that they are on Earth. (Geez, took 'em long enough to figure it out! Sheesh! They should have known from the minute they became dinosaurs and African critters, for pity's sake... ) Disgusted, Dinobot tosses Waspy to the floor and stomps toward the Disks' force field, grumbling that Megatron was right. Waspy, of course, notes that the disks, therefore, contain a record of the future and that perhaps he and Dinobot should team up to get the disks. Dinobot, surprisingly, thinks that's a pretty good idea...except of course that he just wants to use Waspinator. And use him well. Dinobot tosses the unfortunate Waspy against the force field, which proceeds to zap him thoroughly. After the zapping, a giant magnet-like thingy pulls him apart and dumps his pieces into a trash compactor-like thing which smushes him into a far more conveniently compact form. (It's Waspinator ³! :) )

While all that's going on, of course, Dinobot is able to snatch the disks unassaulted, leaving him free to go off on his merry way. The security system, meanwhile, spits out what's left of Waspy, sending his cubed remains sliding across the floor...crashing into Tarantulas' folded-up, soulless body, Blackarachnia in tow. She demands to know what's going on. Dinobot responds by shooting eye lasers at her. Tarantulas, residing of course in Blackarachnia's "pretty little head," notices that Dinobot's taking the disks and tells BA to stop him. But, as she notes, he's long gone. Ranty gives in and apparently decides that it's better to get his body back. So off he and BA go, with BA kicking Tarantulas' body ahead of her, despite Tarantulas' protests against the rough treatment of his body. Waspy, meanwhile, grumbles and, apparently having managed to free a hand from his cubed body, drags himself off to the CR Tank.

Meanwhile, the Maximals have found a stasis pod. No, not one of the mysterious ones from the beginning of the episode, but another one. Rattrap notes that they were lucky it landed so close to the base. Cheetor, however, is in an uncharacteristically fatalistic mood, noting that two other pods landed in Predacon territory and "who knows where the others landed." This looks like a job for--dum dum duuuuuuum--Tigatron! Yup, my man and Airrazor are off to see the wiz--I mean, off to search for stasis pods. As they run off, Rhinox utters some New Age-y sap about being part of the Earth (Yeesh! Tigatron's really rubbed off on Rhinox, eh? :) ) while Cheetor just warns Tigatron to be careful. Rattrap, meanwhile, is getting tooth decay from all the sugar and brings our attention back to the stasis pod. He wants to open 'er up and take a peek under the hood. Won't do them any good though because, as Rhinox points out, it's a "blank." It contains a protoform without a spark. (Gee, wonder what they'll use it for... )

Meanwhile, the funky stasis pods are having a scan, searching for DNA. One of the pods' computer, however, notes that all is not well, that there's a "replication error" and that the protoforms' data tracks are not recoverable. Ooops. And as the hatches open, we get a glimpse of the horrors lurking within. Some orange, insect-looking legs and a hissing sound is seen and heard from one. A bird wing and some growling (Ooooh! Sounds good to me! I like things that growl! :) ) emerge from the either. A brief glimpse back at the other pod gives us another glimpse at the other guy--Looks like a scorpion--and then, peeking out from behind one of the twisted tree skeletons, he speaks. He speaks, in fact, with a cowboy twang worthy of an episode of "Bonanza." Back with the other guy, we see a brief flash of a wing...but also a doggy face. "Who are you?" he demands and then, after raising a decidedly raptorine front foot, wants to know who he is, as well. The other guy doesn't know...but he's itching for a fight. The cobra head on the end of his scorpion tail rears up and strikes as we fade to black.

It's commercial time! Time to go grab a snack! :)

Back from the commercial (And fortified with a yummy grilled cheese sandwich, I might add), the fight is on. We get a good look at the dog/bird guy but other than that, it's your standard scuffle...which is rudely interrupted by the arrival of Inferno who begins to do what he does best--shoot at people. The two new guys go flying. As they land, Bird Dog wonders why Inferno attacked, since there was no provocation. He decides that there has to be a misunderstanding. And the scorpion guy agrees, noting that "old BlenderButt there misunderstands my need to kick his keister!" Inferno lands and the scorpion guy leaps at him. No problem for Inferno, though. Pain is apparently his friend, (Good thing, too, since the poor guy always seems to end up in pieces...:) ), and he proceeds to introduce Mr. Scorpion to it, grabbing him by the tail and smacking his body against the ground as if it was a dusty carpet in need of beating. Bird Dog takes exception to that and demands that Inferno leave him alone. Inferno, of course, relishes the idea of thrashing a hero. He sends Bird Dog flying with a blast from his big-ass gun.

Off to the side, meanwhile, Megatron is machinating. He orders his computer to access the new creatures' activation commands. And, as Inferno levels his flamethrower at the "new creatures" and proceeds to spew flames at them, Megatron knocks him aside with his tail. It's time for the "good cop" to take over, apparently. (And a sorry day it is when Megatron's the good guy... :) ) He apologizes for Inferno's ill manners. Bird Dog is relieved, Mr. Scorpion suspicious. But, as Megs says, they're all Predacons, as they would know if their data tracks hadn't been damaged. Mr. Scorpion needs proof. "Of course, my good, er..." Megatron responds. "Quickstrike," Mr. Scorpion replies. "And good's got nothin' to do with it," he adds. (Gods, but I love that guy... :) ) Bird Dog, meanwhile, thinks he's called Silverbolt. With introductions out of the way, it's time for Megs' proof. He tells them all about activation codes (Of course he doesn't tell them that most of the time, folks transform without them, anyway but, hey! They sound nice, eh? :) ) And so, of course, Quickstrike and Silverbolt transform and become part of the big, happy Pred family, even though Silverbolt doesn't like the taste of the word "terrorize." Quickstrike, however, can't resist giving Inferno a good long zap...

At the Axalon, meanwhile, Rhinox is apparently up to something. He's inside some kind of contraption that looks sort of like a stasis pod. It covers his head and chest, leaving his arms free so that he can work some lever-like joystick controls. Whatever Rhinox is up to, Rattrap's not happy about it. He ticks off the happy events so far: "Primal's been vaped. Dinobot's disappeared, Stripes and the Bird Lady are off on some world cruise, and you're goin' offline?!) Poor, poor Rattrap... Rhinox explains (Well, sort of...) that when the alien device exploded it created a window into transwarp space, but it won't last long. (Okaaaay...And this is relevant to the plot how? ) Cheetor arrives on the scene as the contraption closes over Rhinox and Rattrap rants ineffectually at Rhinox. Irritated, Rattrap lashes out at Cheetor, telling him to go look for Dinobot. "You mean fly?" Cheetor asks hopefully. "No, I mean take a submarine," Rattrap retorts. "Of course I mean fly!" (And that was even better than the snide comment I was going to put in...)

Atop an ominous-looking mountain, in the midst of a thunderstorm (The thunder rolls, and the lightning str--OK, OK, I'll stop! :) ) but with the full moon still inexplicably shining, Dinobot is contemplating his future and the purpose of the Golden Disks while paraphrasing Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy (Woo hoo hoo! :) ) In the end, he keeps one disk and stashes the other under a rock.

Back at Pred Central, Tarantulas gets his Transmetal body back. (And I have to say...I liked the old one better...His TM form is butt-ugly, if'n ya ask me...Way too much kibble hanging off of it.) He lives!

Meanwhile, Silverbolt's helping Inferno to his feet after Quickstrike's zap. Megs approves, noting that teamwork and cooperation are the Predacon watchwords. (Well, in Megs' delusionally idealistic mind they are... :) ) Quickstrike likes "backstabbing and treachery" better and Megs, of course, notes that they can be flexible...but, also of course, he notes that Maximal destruction is of foremost importance. And Quickstrike, of course, likes the sound of that... And, as if on cue, Cheetor arrives. He was looking for Dinobot, but he apparently found the wrong dinosaur, silly boy. Megatron fires at him, knocking Cheetor for a loop and orders Silverbolt to pursue and destroy him. Silverbolt balks...and gets blasted for his pains (Geez, there are days when I think BW Megs tries too hard to be like his namesake...). Megatron warns him never to question his orders and then tells him to go. Silverbolt, wisely, obeys while Megs takes off and Quickstrike climbs onto Blender Butt's back. They're off, forming, in Cheetor's words, a "Pred parade."

Cheetor does some fancy flying and Silverbolt pursues. He transforms to fire some feather missiles from his wingtips...but the attempt backfires as Cheetor darts aside and Silverbolt's missiles hit a column of rock and...Yup, Silverbolt gets a version of the Falling Giant Boulder™ shtick. Cheetor laughs...until Megatron takes up the pursuit, of course.

Meanwhile, back at the Axalon, Rhinox is lying in his contraption, looking mighty dead with Rattrap standing around looking anxious. Cheetor reports in that he's bringing the Preds home to play. In response, Rattrap fires up Sentinel and the autoguns and goes to wake up Rhinox. No can do, though. The computer reports that any interruption in Rhinox's nap will result in permanent loss of spark. (And that, my friends, is a Bad Thing. :) ) And then Dinobot finally decides to show up. He quickly hides the disk he's carrying behind his back and asks what's happening. As Dinobot calls down from the ceiling a wall o' nifty guns to hide behind, Rattrap gives us another of his amusing summaries: "Rhinox is off chasing comets with his mind. And Cheetor's bringing a squad of Preds home to play. Of course, if they hit this place, Big Green there goes permanently offline." The wall retracts, revealing an armed-to-the teeth Dinobot bearing no less that four guns and two bandoliers of ammo. He decides that it's time to take the fight to Megatron and he tosses Rattrap's gun to him. They dash outside for the Big Fight.

Just in time, too. Cheetor's flying in with Megs and Co right behind him. Megs is closing in on Cheetor, but Rattrap takes him out and he falls to the ground with a "Nooooooo!" He orders the Predacons to regroup around his position...

Meanwhile, Tarantulas and Blackarachnia are squaring off. BA notes that Ranty may be a "big, bad Transmetal," but, pulling her gun on him, she also notes that he can still "hose [his] head with high-powered ammo." Ah, but Ranty begs to differ. He has a trump card--one psychic link between his mind and hers and he uses it to force BA to hold her gun to her own head, laughing maniacally all the while...Ah, but their flirting is interrupted by Megatron, who calls to check in. Tarantulas answers (Geez, doesn't Pred Central have an answering machine, for pity's sake? :) ). Megs seems inordinately pleased to have Tarantulas back in the fold and notices that he's got that icky new bod, too. Waspinator, meanwhile, pops cheerfully out of the CR Tank. He begins to tell Megs that Dinobot took the disks, but Megs doesn't want to hear it. He orders them to come join the party.

Time for some Western-movie-inspired shots. Lots of them. That's all the last couple of minutes of the episode consists of. (Hey, I'm not complaining!) There's no dialogue, just a series of quick shots interspered with eagle sceeches and other traditional Western sounds and acoustic guitar riffs. Very nifty! Let's see, we've got:

And that's the end o' Part 1. I just love that last sequence. Very, very cool, not to mention that it's not something you often see in a cartoon... Now time to fast forward through some commercials to find Part 2...

Ah, here we are! After the recap, we're off again!

Ooooh, lots of rapid-fire gun blasts. The Maximals and the Predacons are firing away at each other (Of course, no one on either side actually gets hit... Are we sure this isn't a G1 episode...?) Eventually, the three Maximals go flying through the air, screaming at the top of their...well, whatever they use for lungs. They land in a heap behind some sheltering boulders, Rattrap on top. (Woo hoo! :) ) As they recover, Cheetor offers to fly overhead and get the drop of the Preds. Good idea, Dinobot endorses. Bad idea, Rattrap counters. He tosses a rock up into the air, which is reduced to pebble-dom thanks to Predacon weapons-fire. Dinobot's response? "A bot can hope, can he not?" he says. (With a grin, no less! From Dinobot! A grin! ) Cheetor is not amused... But then they all go back to ineffectually shooting their guns at the Predacons. The Preds dutifully return fire as...Waspinator and Tarantulas arrive on the scene? (Eh? Didn't they do that last episode? Nightwind not understaaaand!) Megs is a happy boy, orders a full attack. (Like...what they were doing before wasn't a full attack?)

Silverbolt, however, has a problem with that (Aiiiiii, didn't that boy learn anything last episode?) He points out that the Preds outnumber the poor little Maximals by like 2 to 1. "So?" is basically Megs' response. So Silverbolt says they should give them a chance to surrender. "Ummmm, no," is Megs' response. And he whaps Silverbolt with his tail weapon, sending him smashing into a boulder, of course. (Why am I having painful flashbacks to G1 here?) Megs warns him that if Sliverbolt questions his orders again, Megs is going to "tear [him] limb from mismatched limb, Fuzor." (So that's what those funky guys are called... :) ) He wants the Maximals destroyed quickly and without mercy (So, uh...Why are y'all standin' around jawin' then, Meggy-poo?) and he asks if anyone else has any objections. Inferno and Tarantulas frantically shake their heads. Quickstrike, however, speaks up and, with the claw end of Meg's tail weapon wrapped around his throat, manages to ask if it has to be quick. (I love that guy!) They go back to trying to shoot the piss out of the Maximals.

Rhinox, meanwhile, is tripping out. He's attached to the "blank" stasis pod and the magenta energy tendrils are glowing brighter and brighter. The computer reports to no one that Rhinox's core consciousness is growing dangerously distant, and that his chances of return are diminishing. The magenta energy tendrils, meanwhile, reach all the way up into the sky--and apparently into some kind of funky virtual world...Like, far out, man!

Tarantulas, meanwhile, is not having a good day. He's under fire, for one thing, and he's bickering with Blackarachnia, for another. She's back at the Pred base, rifling through a storage compartment at Tarantulas' behest. She yanks all manner of things out the compartment--a toy airplane, a toy helicopter, a couple of maces, a wine goblet, a pocket watch, a book, the head of a Seeker (Ewwwww...) and, of course, the infamous rubber ducky. She says that he task would be easier if she knew what she was looking for, and Tarantulas informs her that she's looking for the Golden Disks. BA reminds him that Dinobot took them, of course, but Ranty insists that Megs would have made a back-up copy of them and would have stored them in his private records--which of course BA conveniently finds. Ranty orders her to see if she can find any of the disks' data. Megs, meanwhile, notices Ranty talking to himself and Silverbolt declares that the Maximals are fools for not retreating in the face of the Predacons' overwhelming numbers (Huh. He doesn't know good guys very well then, eh?) It's then that Megs realizes--and sees the magenta energy tendrils poking at the sky--that the Maximals are trying to keep the Preds away from their base. (About time you figured it out, Meggy! :) ) He orders Waspinator and Silverbolt to head for the Maximal base. As those two fly over, the Maximals realize that Megs has deduced their strategy..."Such as it was," Dinobot amends. Well, Rattrap says that they need a new one because if Waspy and Bolt make it to the base before they do, Rhinox is "one dead battery." (Yeah...So shut up about it and go, for pity's sake!)

Speaking of "go," it's commercial time! Go do your business. Come back ready to party!

When we return, we are in the mind of Rhinox (Yeah, I know. It's scary...But not as scary as when we're in Cheetor's head!). His head is floating through virtual space. Time is apparently running out...For what, one wonders, of course.... He says that it's "gotta be here in...the Other Side of the Matrix." (And I'm sorry, but that sounds like a soap opera...Will Optimus live again? Will Rhinox find his way home? Will Cheetor grow up? Will Dinobot ever crack a joke? Find out next time on "The Other Side of the Matrix." Sorry...) It's just too weird I'm afraid...

Meanwhile, Silverbolt and Waspinator are flying merrily off to the Axalon, Waspinator in the lead. Rattrap tells Cheetor to take off after 'em and he and Dinobot will follow on the ground. "My weapon is depleted," Dinobot complains. (Uh-oh. Sounds like a personal problem there, DB! :) ) "I need a running start!" Cheetor moans. Bitching about having to do everything, Rattrap gives him a kick in the ass (literally!) to send Cheetor skyward, transforms to hot rod mode, and orders a reluctant Dinobot to climb aboard.

Up in the air, Waspinator is exulting about being in the lead. Silverbolt agrees, says, "Go ahead! Lead on!" Waspy stops in his tracks, causing a two-Pred mid-air pile-up when Silverbolt crashes into him. "You not tell Waspinator what to do!" Waspy says indignantly."Waspinator in command." "Okaaaay," Silverbolt says patiently, "What is your command?" "Doggybot follow Waspinator" is Waspinator's command. "Waspinator will lead." And, with a moan, Silverbolt follows Waspinator. And then he notices Cheetor sneaking up on them. Cheetor gives Waspy the old mid-air headbutt and Waspy spirals to the ground. Silverbolt pulls up to avoid crashing into Cheetor and Cheetor takes off with a snarl. Silverbolt follows. (Hey, he's a dog; he can't resist chasing a cat! :) )

Meanwhile, Dinobot and Rattrap are rolling right along, though it's a very bumpy ride. Megatron takes off after them. Tarantulas stays behind to check in with Blackarachnia, asking her if she's found anything yet. And boy has she ever, having found the back up Golden Disk data tracks! But she keeps the knowledge locked away from Ranty, which pisses him off, of course. Luckily for her, though, Dinobot and Rattrap distract Ranty and ultimately he gets his customary Falling Giant Boulder™ treatment, knocking him (temporarily) off-line. BA, relishing her momentary freedom, takes the opportunity to download and encrypt the information from the disks.

Meanwhile, Rattrap and passenger are being harassed by both Inferno and Megatron from the air, but Dinobot manages to squeeze off a shot at Inferno, which sends him spiralling into Megatron. They both land in a heap...with Inferno's head on Megatron's body and vice versa.

Tarantulas, pinned under the boulder, regains consciousness and demands that BA tell him what she found. Ah, but there's apparently been an unfortunate...accident back at Pred Central. The back-up console is in pieces...and nevermind BA's smoking gun! The back-up tracks were booby-trapped, she reports. (Yeah, by someone with some serious boobs, I'd wager... :) ) Tarantulas is pissed. Foiled again, Ranty!

Silverbolt and Cheetor, meanwhile, are approaching the Maximal base. The autoguns take care of Silverbolt, sending him crashing to the ground just as he's transforming. He lands in a heap with feathers falling to the ground around him...and Cheetor's tail weapon at his throat. Rattrap and Dinobot arrive at the same time. After your standard Rattrap/Dinobot Insult Exchange, Silverbolt speaks up, telling the Maximals to get on with destroying him already. Dinobot's happy to comply, but Rattrap and Cheetor stop him, much to Silverbolt's surprise, Cheetor asserting that destroying Silverbolt isn't what Optimus would have done. "Maximal sentiment!" Dinobot laments. "I must have been defective to defect." (HAH!) So DB's going to take Silverbolt to the CR chamber while Rattrap checks on Rhinox the Daytripper.

As Dinobot stomps in to dump Silverbolt into the CR Chamber, something's up with Rhinox. His core consciousness returns with an almighty blast and Rattrap gives him his wake-up call. Rattrap asks him where he went and Rhinox cryptically replies..."Where all are one." But before Rhinox can explain that, the base shudders. Yup, the Preds have arrived en masse. "We're all gonna die," Rattrap squeaks, and Rhinox agrees that "It happens. But miracles happen, too." And, picking up a Chain Gun o' Doom, he order them to get their rears in gear. Time for more mindless fighting! Woo hoo!

Well, first we have to get through commercials, of course...

The Preds are firing tons o' missiles at the shielded Maximal base. But, as the computer reports that the shields will fail in 18 millicycles, the magenta energy thing is back, pounding into Rhinox's contraption and following the wires from it to the "blank" stasis pod. As the Preds continue to pound the Maximal base, the thing that popped out of the stasis pod (Gee, wonder who it is...) stalks the corridors of the base, freeing a shocked Silverbolt from the CR Chamber. Outside, meanwhile, the shields fall with a nifty visual effect that looks like a mirror shattering. The Maximals make one last attempt at blowing the Preds up, but to no avail. The Preds fire back, destroying the whatever-it-was that the Maximals were hiding behind. "Oh no," Rattrap utters.

Oh no, indeed...

As the sun comes up, Rhinox, with a big gaping hole in his chest (Ewwwwwww...), gives the standard Western "comes the dawn" speech. "And our doom," Dinobot optimistically adds...and then his arm falls off. (Ewwww...) The Preds line up with the upper arc of the sun behind them (Oooooh, pretty picture!) and advance upon the helpless Maximals. "At least we go with honor," Dinobot notes. "Finish it," Megs coldly says, looking down disgustedly on the Maximals...and then he gets walloped by something. Who could it be? Well, who else would announce his presence by yelling, "Well, that's just prime!" A-yup, it'd be Optimus Primal, back and better than ever with a nifty Transmetal bod (Though I have to wonder why he's got the TM bod...He didn't get "quantum surged," after all... ) "It...worked," Rhinox exults. Optimus, meanwhile, proceeds to single-handedly whup the Predacons. (I guess they were just so shocked to see him alive that they forgot to fight back?) But the Preds recover, Megs takes off (For some unknown reason), and Optimus flies around in his new sky-surfin' gorilla mode for no apparent reason. He lands to take on Inferno in a shoot-out (after Inferno misses Optimus and takes out Ranty and Quickstrike, that is...) Megatron tries to interfere, but Silverbolt obligingly knocks him over a cliff. "Consider that my resignation from the Predacons," he says, all huffily. He asks if he can pretty please join the Maximals instead and Optimus, glancing at the falling Megatron, says, "Well....I like your resume." (HAH! :) )And with that, the Preds are sent packing.

So life is grand amongst the Maximals once again. Rhinox gives Optimus a brief rundown of what happened while he was...well, dead, and reports that they're waiting for Tigatron's report about the state of the rest of the planet. Optimus, meanwhile, notes that he's got a lot of catching up to do: new people to meet, things to do..."opportunistic vermin" to evict from his quarters, that kind of thing...

And Megs, meanwhile, has an arachnid to confront. He recaps to Blackarachnia: "Dinobot stole the disks and destroyed my backup. But we are blessed with your complete recovery?" BA asserts that she exists only to serve Megatron. (Liar, liar, pants on fire!) Megs seems dubious at that and confirms that nothing could be recovered from the back ups. Tarantulas bounces down from the ceiling suspended by spider string and seconds the motion. BA points out that the console was completely destroyed. Megs growls, gives Ranty a good whack for no apparent reason, and begins to roller skate around the room, noting that they're entering a "new phase in the Beast Wars" and that future developments should prove very interesting. BA seconds the motion, as binary data scrolls in her eyes. "Very interesting, indeed," she says as the camera pushes right into her eye and then the scene abruptly fades to static.

Yes, friends, the Great Season 2 Epic Kick is upon us all! Repent all you sinners or feel the wrath of Bob and Larry! :) Well, not really, of course...

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Nightwind's Unsolicited Opinions

Of all of the multi-parters in Beast Wars, this one is probably my...second-favorite. Of, course, that's not saying all that much, as the multi-parters tend not to be among my favorite episodes. It's mostly, I think, because the final part of the multi-parters always seems to let me down. The only multiparter that I love, overall, is "Other Voices," in fact. But "Coming of the Fuzors" is, in my opinion, pretty good, for several reasons. Those are:

Of course, there's the down side to the episode, too. And, for me, it's a biggie. And that, of course, would be the resurrection of Optimus Primal. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate miraculous character resurrections?? Heh heh. Well, look out, 'cuz here comes one big Nightwind Rant™!

There's only one thing I hate more than pointless, meaningless deaths in a TV show. And that would be the miraculous resurrection of characters who have been killed. I hate it when Optimus Prime is resurrected in G1's "The Return of Optimus Prime," and it's not just because I like Rodimus Prime a heckuva lot more than I like Optimus Prime. I hate it when Starscream is resurrected as a ghost. (I do! I'm probably the only Starscream fan who hates the fact that he's apparently immortal!) I would have hated it if the much-rumored "Dark Glass" episode featuring the resurrection of Dinobot's personality had been produced. And I hate it here, with the return of Optimus Primal. Why? Because, in most cases miraculous resurrections cheapen great character deaths.

The most powerful thing that a writer can do to a character is to kill him. Deaths, especially heroic deaths for a noble purpose, hit readers/viewers hard, evoking in them perhaps strong emotional reactions--from outrage at the loss of a favorite character, to empathy for those the character left behind, to a sense of pride that a favorite character gave his/her life for a higher purpose. In Optimus Primal's case, for me, all three of those emotions--and more!--come into play. I truly like Optimus Primal, much more so than I ever liked his namesake. There's a realness there, discernable strengths and weaknesses, and a sense of humor and irony that was hardly ever there with his namesake. I was truly saddened by his death. (Though it was sadness mitigated by the fact that I knew he'd be back, of course.) Likewise, I was saddened on behalf of the remaining Maximals, all of whom I like as well. But more than that, there was the sense that, yeah, Primal died...but he died so that everyone and eveything else on the planet--including the Predacons!--would live to fight another day. Now that's nobility, folks! No other character, in G1 or in Beast Wars, died a "better," more noble death than Optimus Primal. (And no, I'm not discounting Dinobot here. In fact I have very mixed feelings about his death. Was it purely noble self-sacrifice? Or was it suicide? Suicide--as I'm inclined to believe that Dinobot's death at least partially was, given that Dinobot refused to do the one thing that could have saved his life even though he could have done so--is never noble. It's the ultimate selfishness, in fact.) Optimus, of course, knew that he could die when he hopped into that stasis pod ship in "Other Voices," though he certainly wasn't expecting death, but he went ahead and did it anyway because he figured that it was the right thing to do. That's a powerful thing, almost as powerful as the fact that he did die. All in all, Optimus Primal had one of the best TF deaths ever.

So what do they do? They go and resurrect him, for pity's sake! And in a very implausible manner, in my opinion, too! Optimus Primal's resurrection served to negate every emotion that I and the other characters had about his death. Thus, it cheapens a great death. I hate that! I mean, yes I knew he'd be back. Yes, I knew Hasbro would never allow anyone with the word "Optimus" in their name to stay dead for long...I even know that the story editors had to fight to keep him dead as long as they did...but that doesn't mean that I can't still be pissed off about his revival. And I am! Especially because I don't like Primal as much once he's back in Transmetal form. He's not the same guy that I knew and loved. He's crankier and more high-strung than he was before. That endearing sense of irony and humor about him that I loved is largely gone. True, I'm sure dying will do that to you...but that doesn't mean I have to like it. And the fact that I knew Optimus Primal would be resurrected doesn't mean that I have to like that, either. As I said, it negates and cheapens the most noble TF death in all of the incarnations of the show.

And, as if that weren't bad enough, the resurrection of Optimus Primal is also the deus ex machina that saves the Maximals' bacon in the episode, too. Bleagh! Hate that, too!

Still, overall, I like this episode. I can rant and moan about how much the episode's resurrection pisses me off and ruins a great death until the cows come home but, as I said, it wasn't unexpected. So, yeah, it drags the episode down a bit for me. But not nearly enough to make me hate it, overall...

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Great Moments

The last couple minutes of Part 1 of this episode are really cool, as I noted in the summary. No words, just Western-type music and sounds and some interesting, Western-movie-inspired close-ups and camera angles. The fade to sepia tones at the end adds the perfect touch. Nice job, animators!

Dinobot, of course, does his second paraphrasing of Hamlet here, something to make this old English teacher's heart go pitter-pat. :) I have to say that this one in particular is a bit overblown...but given that Dinobot is almost an archetypical classic Shakespearean hero, it also kind of fits him. In any event, it's not an exact quote, except for the first line, of Hamlet's famous soliloquy, but...Well, I feel the need to record it for posterity anyway. So here goes:

"To be or not to be; that is the question. These disks I hold...Are they a record of what will be oronly of what may? For if the future is indeed immutably foretold, then my demise is but moments from confirmation, for I could not live if not the master of my fate. But if the future can be changed, if these disks record merely one path of all the myriad ways the cosmos might conform, then their power is infinite and yet still limited, for it could be used but once and in that change be rendered fiction forevermore. I could destroy them...but...no. 'Twould be a coward's answer. I will note the truth instead, then 'twill be either them...or me...that face oblivion."

My nomination for best line of the episode has to be Quickstrike's though: "Old Blender-Butt there misunderstands my need to kick his keister!" (Did I mention that I love that guy??? :) )

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Closed Captioning Weirdness
(Or, Sometimes What You Think They Say Is Not Really What They Say)

Yeesh! Why is it that the multi-parters always have tons of captioning boo-boos, and usually just in one part? In this case, the majority of them are in the first part. Well, time to just dive in, I suppose:

After Blackarachnia, with Tarantulas on board, watches Dinobot run off with the Golden Disks, Blackarachnia balks at taking off after him. Tarantulas responds with, "Oooh! Those disks are more valuable than--never mind!" instead of "Fool! Those disks are more valuable than--never mind!"

Very shorty afterward, Tarantulas says, "I seek the equipment we need" instead of "I see the equipment we need."

Quickstrike challenges Silverbolt to a fight with, "C'mon, buzzard feathers..." instead of, "C'mon Fuzz n' Feathers..."

Inferno interrupts the Quickstrike/Silverbolt fight with, "Insolent duns! Burn in the fires of Inferno," instead of "Insolent ones! Burn in the fires of Inferno."

Rattrap begins his first summation of the episode's events so far with "Prime has been vaped" instead of "Primal's been vaped."
(Prime presumably got vaped long ago, after all... :) )
In addition, "Dinobot" is spelled "Dynobot" off and on in the captions throughout this episode. This speech of Rattrap's is the first time it shows up.

Near the end of Dinobot's Hamlet speech, we have "...and in that change be rendered vextion forevermore," instead of "...and in that change be rendered fiction forevermore."

As Rattrap and Dinobot go out to face down the Predacons, Rattrap transforms into hot rod mode and yells "Make some more rubber burn!" instead of "Maximum rubber burn!"

As Rattrap peels away, spitting rocks and exhaust at Dinobot, Dinobot mutters, "Cursed ruffian" instead of "Accursed rodent!"

Just before Rattrap blasts Megatron who's about to blast Cheetor, Rattrap says, "Oh no you don't, you bad baddy freak!" instead of "Oh no you don't, you fan-fannied freak!"
(Love the alliteration! :) )

In Part 2, Megatron orders, "Respirator, Silverbolt!" instead of "Waspinator, Silverbolt!"
(Granted, it seems to me that Waspinator might need a respirator every once in a while, considering the abuse that he takes and the damage that results from it, but I don't think that's a reason to call him a respirator... :) )

Megs exclaims "Terronic!" instead of "They're running!" as the Maximals...well, run. :)
(What the hell kind of word is "terronic," anyway...?)

When the resurrected Optimus Primal makes his reappearance, Cheetor gasps, "Tinbot?" instead of "Bigbot?"
(If anything, he's "plasticbot" not "tinbot." :) )

And, finally:

As Optimus is shooting the piss out of the Predacons, Rattrap responds with, "Oh, great!" instead of "All right!"

Whew! And that, as they say, is all, folks! :)

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Totally Arbitrary Overall Rating, Just For the Heck of It

Yes, friends, it's another love it/hate it sort of episode. Still, the "love" part generally outweighs the "hate" part. So, boil it all down, and I get a rating of...7.5 Yeah, I think that should do it...The Great Resurrection and deus ex machina ending drags Part 2 down and the "Western imagery" bit at the end of the first part drags Part 1 up, so I'd probably give the same technical rating to both halves, though overall I enjoy the second part more than the first, if only because it has a faster, more exciting pace without the problematical character intro angle.