The Immobilizer, The Autobot Run, Atlantis Arise, Day of the Machines, and Enter the Nightbird

Hello and welcome to the sixth episode of the

TFG1 podcast recorded on February 20, 2009. I

am your host, Michael Blanchard. It's Michael

Blanchard with the TFG1 podcast back again for

episode 6 Before we get into the episodes today.

I just wanted to let everybody know I did get

an email From I don't know if this person is

a listener, but they are a member over on PredaconEmpire

.com forums and I responded to that email. I

will not be reading it on the air, but I do appreciate

What these senders sent to me? Really haven't

really been doing all that much just working

the hell out of this podcast getting stuff done

and Still in the process of moving apartments

probably going to be getting movers together

here in a Few weeks probably by the time this

podcast airs. I will have already moved hopefully

So yeah, let's get into some episodes today Move

in closer, guys. I want you all to get a look

at my new invention. What is it, Wheeljack? A

clever little creation I call the Wheeljack Instant

Immobilizer. Uh, what does it instantly immobilize?

Excellent question! Hound, the demonstration,

if you please. Man, that hologram sure looks

like that Decepticon dirty bird, Laserbeak. It's

supposed to, Spike. Now let's say you're on patrol

one day. And all of a sudden old Laserbeak shows

up. Well, sir, you... Take cover! What happened?

Did I nail Laserbeak? Ironhide, he wasn't for

real. He was one of Hound's holograms. Sorry,

guys. You okay, Wheeljack? Probably, but this

polarizer is poked out. Oh, wait a minute. I

can't believe I mistook a hologram for the real

article. My scanners must be glitched. Hey, none

of us is perfect, Ironhide. My immobilizer demonstration

will just have to wait a bit. Bumblebee, run

into town and pick up a new polarizer, will ya?

Gotcha, Wheeljack. Come on, Spike. First up today

is the immobilizer to synopsize this episode.

We open with Wheeljack wanting to demonstrate

a new invention he is calling the immobilizer,

hence the name of the episode. Hound creates

a hologram of Laserbeak, but the demonstration

is cut short and the invention is damaged due

to Ironhide coming in and thinking that the hologram

was really the real Laserbeak. Wheeljack sends

Bumblebee and Spike out to get a part to repair

the immobilizer. They end up in an arcade where

Bumblebee is impressing all the kids with his

video games playing skills. A girl taps Spike

on the shoulder and asks him to introduce her

to that cute Autobot. Spike is awestruck. He

can barely say anything. The girl introduces

herself as Carly to Bumblebee and Spike and then

they have to split because they should have been

back at Autobot headquarters with Wheeljack's

part hours ago. Bumblebee and Spike get pulled

over by a policeman who is confused the fact

that the car that Spike is underage to drive

the car and Spike says it isn't and Spike says

I'm not driving officer it's driving itself Bumblebee

transforms I'm sorry, I just... Oh crap. Bumblebee

transforms and tries explaining the situation

to the police officer, but Ravage jumps out of

the shadows and attacks them. Spike asks the

officer if he has jumper cables and Spike shocks

Ravage into retreating, however the Ravage attacking

Bumblebee was only a diversionary tactic because

he planted a mini cam on Bumblebee so the Decepticons

can spy on the Autobots. Prim and the others

head out to test this new invention of wheel

jacks. under safety conditions. Ironhide is told

to take the first watch, hopefully guarding against

a septicon attack. At the demonstration, Wheeljack

immobilizes the waterfall that the Autobots are

standing next to. It is completely solid. Spike

trips over the remote for the machine, activating

it and freezing Wheeljack. Ironhide thinks he

spots a Decepticon and it turns out to be the

girl Carly that Spike and Bubble met at the arcade.

All of a sudden, Ironhide hears battle sounds

and the Decepticons have attacked the Autobots.

and are going to steal the immobilizer. The Autobots

load Wheeljack into Ratchet and head back to

headquarters. While there, Ironhide blames himself

for the Decepticon attack and wants no more active

duty, Carly asks him to show her around the headquarters,

and he does. They go through where the Autobots

store their weaponry, and Carly steals an explosive

charge and drives away from Autobot base. She

finds the Decepticons underwater base and plants

whatever she stole on the outside of the ship.

Inside of the ship Megatron asks Soundwave for

a report and he tells the leader that there is

a human intruder outside. Soundwave sends Laserbeak

out to stop the intruder. Carly gets it to the

surface but Laserbeak catches her before she

can get back into her boat and takes her back

to the Decepticon base. The Autobots realize

that Carly's been captured because the Sky Spy

picked up Laserbeak taking her to the Decepticon

headquarters. Sparkplug begs Ironhide to go after

Carly because there'd be no way Spike could handle

the Decepticons on his own. Megatron and the

Decepticons hatch a plan to trap the Autobots

while they come rescue their friend. The bomb

Carly stole explodes, and the outer part of the

Decepticon base But the evil doers managed to

contain okay wait The bomb Carly stole explodes

on the outer part of the Decepticon base But

the evil doers managed to contain the water intake

into the room Where Carly is being held then

ironhide bursts in and saves her before she drowns

in the overflow of water in the chamber But the

Decepticons have perfected the invention and

the immobilizer effect is now indefinite throughout

the battle The Decepticons immobilize several

Autobots, however, Carly has a plan and asks

Braun to tunnel right under the device. She switches

the wires to reverse the effect, and the end

result is that all immobilized Autobots are freed

and Ironhide destroys the device. Wheeljack asks

how Carly knew how to get the device to reverse

the effect. She goes into some scientific explanation

and tells the Autobots that she learned it at

MIT where she is getting her degree. Then Bumblebee

whispers the scientific way to say chocolate

soda to Spike and he asks Carly out their ride

off in Bumblebee and the episode ends. Now for

my thoughts on this episode. Let's see, there

are a few things about this episode that are

worth mentioning. It is the first appearance

of Carly, whom eventually becomes Spike's girlfriend,

wife, and mother to his son Daniel, whom is in

the 1986 movie, and the seasons that follow that

event. One animation flaw I noticed was when

Spike and Bumblebee go after Carly, Prime and

the rest of the Autobots are getting ready to

leave, while the scene it shows Bumblebee standing

there amongst the ranks even though he left with

the kids in a previous scene. At the end of the

episode, Carly talks about getting a degree at

MIT. She can drive without being pulled over

by the cops, so it's safe to assume she's a few

years older than Spike. So what would Spike's

age be? Obviously, he'd still be in high school

or something, but not driving age yet? However,

Carly is apparently graduated from college. My

point here is that they make most of the human

kids seem older at times and or younger at times,

depending on the situation. Talk about a storyline

glitch. Transfixitron, my afterburner! Instead

of wasting time on that, you should've been leading

us against the Autobots! That idiotic contraption

probably won't even work! Let's find out, Starscream!

Transform! No, Megatron! You can't mean to! What's

a test without a guinea pigatron? Transform,

I say! This invention is high -tech garbage!

Really? Then transform back to your root mode,

Starscream, and come back to me. I... I can't

transform! What have you done to me? I have transfixed

you in your present state, and you will stay

that way until I free you. Release me, Megatron!

And the ticket money goes to charity. So what

do you say, Optimus Prime? Hmm, it is a worthy

cause. And we have been rather inactive lately.

Go for it, Optimus. I need action or I'll rust

out. I'm sure a large audience would enjoy my

performance. Heh, just a waste of time and energy

if you ask me. Who's asking you, Party Pooper?

On the other hand, Hubhurst, somebody's gotta

stay here and stand guard. Tell you what, Hufford.

Wheeljack and I will keep you company. Alright

then. Autobots, transform. Roll for the show!

Now the Autobots can no longer call themselves

Transformers! Up next is the Autobot Run. To

synopsize this episode we start out by watching

Chip and Spike watching a racing event and Chip

has an idea for an Autobot charity race. Laserbeak

is spying on them and he reports back to Megatron

and the rest of the Decepticons who are having

the Constructicons build a device called the

Transfixatron. This device will transfix anyone

into one spot. Megatron tests it out on Starscream,

who can no longer transform out of his alt -jet

mode. The Decepticons are going to use this on

the racing Autobots. Skywarp teleports to the

race and shoots the device at the racing Autobots,

fixing them to their car modes. Ironhide asks

Trailbreaker if he felt a jolt on his circuits

a moment ago, but Trailbreaker brushes it off

as he is now ahead of Ironhide. After the race

is over, the Autobots realize that they can no

longer transform. And the Decepticons attack

and capture them all. All are captured except

Bumblebee, Spike and Chip, who head back to Autobot

headquarters to tell the others what has happened.

Wheeljack, Ratchet, Spike and Chip come up with

a way to neutralize the Transfixitron. They then

head to where the Decepticons have taken their

Autobot friends, and a battle ensues. Wheeljack,

Spike and Chip play keep the energy grenade away

from the Decepticons, and Chip in his wheelchair

rolls for the Transfixed Autobots. the grenade

and everyone is back to normal. The Autobots

then send the Decepticons back to their base,

and Ironhide and Trailbreaker break the Transfixitron,

ending this episode. Now for my thoughts on this

episode. It was cool to see the Autobots doing

something out of their normal element. putting

them in a racing situation was cool. I love the

music that Jazz played in the racing sequence.

It was very upbeat and very, you know, kind of

like, kind of like race music almost. The Transfixitron

idea of Megatrons is kind of like Wheeljack's

immobilizer, only the Transfixitron didn't outright

freeze you. It just trapped you in a vehicle,

in vehicle mode. Now I don't know if this actually,

I said in the synopsis about it transfixes anyone.

I don't know if that's true. I don't know if

it was, I don't remember if it was just, you

know, robots, whatever, or if it was everybody,

I'm not really sure. One thing I've noticed with

the animation of Bumblebee in particular is that

when he's in car mode, the image changes sizes

from episode to episode. Yeah, that is getting

kind of annoying. It's almost like the bad paint

scheme on animated Bumblebee the toy. So yeah,

up next is... In their relentless pursuit of

more energy, the Decepticons make an ominous

discovery. How dare you disturb me to watch a

traveler sound wave? Recall me's a beacon buzzard

once. Wait, Megatron, and observe. Are you interested

now? Yes! An underwater city of such size must

generate enormous energy. Energy that shall soon

be ours. evaluate their discovery. Ah, intriguing.

And rushing forward, Brangley, is for Dolph.

You speak wisely, land stranger. I am Nergil,

King of Sub -Atlantica. Welcome. to my domain

he communicates telepathically his mental power

is great but not as great as my fire i had hoped

you were different from other land creatures

but i see you are not hold or i shall destroy

you But I admire your warlike spirit. I believe

we have much to offer one another. You scrambled

the message, Starscream. Then unscramble it.

I don't trust that humanoid until the... Perhaps

we may be allies, land dweller. told my guards

not to harm you. Follow me. Atlantis arise. To

synopsize this episode we begin with Buzzsaw

and Laserbeak flying over the ocean and Megatron

demands of Soundwave why did he disturb him for

a travelogue video. Soundwave maintains to the

leader that he should keep watching that they

find a huge source of energy underneath the sea.

The Decepticons then head out to investigate.

They meet Nergil, I think that's how it's said,

I don't know, and the Sub -Atlanticans. They

combine their efforts into using Sub -Atlantica's

energy to make energon cubes. The Autobots, Dinobots,

and Spike are attempting to play football when

Wheeljack interrupts the game, telling them that

Optimus Prime needs them back at headquarters

immediately. At the Autobot base, Prime asks

for volunteers to go and see what is going on

in the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean. Spike

and a few of the other Autobots head out to see

what the trouble is. As they find Sub -Atlantica,

they are attacked by the Sub -Atlanticans and

Decepticons alike. Wheeljack sacrifices himself

so the others can escape. Nurgil has his minions

take Wheeljack to a holding cell and then tells

them to fire the thrusters so that Sub -Atlantica

may rise again. The underwater city is headed

for Washington DC. And Megatron tells the Sub

-Atlantican Guard to activate the Force Shield

around the city. So a battle begins between the

Autobots and Decepticons when Prime and the others

arrive on the scene and attempt to stop what's

going on. Starscream wants Nyurgil's Magnetic

Disruptor Ray, but the Sea King blasts him. Bumblebee

and Spike arrive to stop Starscream from attempting

to destroy Wheeljack. They free Wheeljack and

join the battle. Prime and the others get blasted

by the Magnetic Gun and Wheeljack calls in the

Dinobots to save them. The giant robots blast

their way through the force field and attack.

There's a fight between Megatron and Grimlock,

which Grimlock gets the magnetic gun away from

the Decepticon leader, and he destroys it, freeing

the Autobots. Megatron blames Starscream, but

Starscream tells him of the plot by Nergil to

double -cross the Decepticons. As the Autobots

are free now, the Decepticons and Sub -Atlanticans

retreat, but not before Megatron attempts to

destroy the Washington Monument. Optimus Prime

and Grimlock keep the... historical landmark

from falling. and Slag repairs the damage with

his heat breath. Inside Sub -Atlantica, Megatron

demands a response of Nyrgil to Starscream's

charges of treachery. The Sea King says it will

have to wait because the Autobots are fast approaching.

Yet another underwater battle begins between

good and evil. Nyrgil is going to destroy Sub

-Atlantica by overloading the energy stockpiles.

Wheeljack and Bubblebee attempt to stop him,

but it is too late. The undersea city sinks back

into the depths. to the ocean, and Nurgil escapes,

thus ending this episode. Now for my thoughts

on this episode. It seems to me that almost every

cartoon of the same type as Transformers, and

even TV shows in general, have some sort of Atlantis

type episode. This also goes true for a Frankenstein

type episode. It was another nice change to see

Autobots in an environment that we normally wouldn't

see them in. Then again, throughout season 1

and season 2 so far, there have been plenty of

quote -unquote water episodes. Yay, at least

Starscream's bumbling was justified in this episode.

I just love seeing the Dinobots in action and

the Grimlock Megatron battle was kinda cool.

Normally you would not see Grimlock and Megatron

battling, but it was pretty cool. Now to reprogram

it to serve only me. Illegal access. Illegal

access. It suddenly is. Now you are being programmed

with my personality, my instincts, my contempt

for the weaklings who deny me the ultimate greatness

I deserve. I am yours to command, Megatron Master.

I'm worried, Professor. Perhaps Torque 3 is too

smart for mere men to control. We must continue

the pursuit of knowledge, Paul. But Torque 3

is potentially capable of controlling the whole

world. What if the wrong people got control of

him? Man's future depends on the development

of sophisticated machines. Torque is the first

machine that can build other machines. Robot

welders, robot constructors, robot controlled

doors, even robot file cabinets. I didn't realize

how late it was. We should go home and get some

sleep. Perhaps you're right. You'll probably

feel better about our work in the mor - What

the - This isn't supposed to happen. I'll call

maintenance. Maintenance can't help you, Dr.

Gates. I control quantum labs now. Torque has

seized command? But how can that be? Find anything

metallic, Professor. Ballpoint pens, paperclips,

and hurry! What are you doing? Rebuilding the

visophone for long -distance transmission. We've

got to get help. What is it, Teletran 1? Unexplained

change in oil tanker shipping patterns. Hmm.

All those tankers are converging on a spot near

the Decepticon undersea headquarters. They carry

a vast energy supply, Optimus Prime. My ol' factory

sensors detect a rat named Megatron. Incoming

message from Quantum Labs. Emergency frequency!

Optimus Prime. Thank heavens I've reached you.

What's wrong, Dr. Gates? Our super comp - Someone's

ordered his programming. Torque seems to have

taken control of all the machines in the compound.

Hang on, Paul. We won't let you down. But if

the Decepticreeps are collecting all that oil,

shouldn't we nail them first? But our human friends

with Quantum are in danger. The whole world will

be in trouble if those tankers aren't stopped.

At least let me check it out. Hmm. Affirmative.

Skyfire, take Hound there. Roger, Optimus Prime.

Let me go too, Optimus. Very well, Spike. Autobots,

transform! Roll out! Up next is Day of the Machines.

To synopsize this episode, we begin at a place

called Quantum Labs, where the guard is making

his rounds and finds some things were left out.

He takes them to the lost and found cage. Last?

Yeah, that's great. Maybe I shouldn't italicize

the synopsis anymore, or else, you know, end

up floating up. So he takes the things to the

lost and found cage and sets them inside. Well,

it turns out that these items are Soundwave in

alt mode and Megatron in alt mode inside a violin

case. Soundwave releases Laserbeak and instructs

him to release Megatron. The three Decepticons

go sneaking around the compound and blast their

way into where the new supercomputer, Torque

3, is housed. Megatron reprograms the supercomputer

with his own personality. Dr. Paul Gates, whom

is very skeptical of TORC -3, and another professor

get trapped in Gates' office. The scientist rewires

the Visiphone to contact the Autobots. Optimus

Prime and the others head out to help the humans

at Quantum. But Hound, Skyfire, and Spike head

towards the Decepticon base. where fleets of

oil tankers are converging. Prime and the others

get to the compound, but Torque 3's machines

are too much for them. So Prime calls in the

Dinobots, Grimlock, Slag, Sludge, and Snarl arrive

and make short work of the tanks and trucks,

but Torque 3 keeps throwing new machines at the

Autobots. They finally get inside the building

where Torque 3 is housed, but it is a maze and

Prime goes in alone because he doesn't want all

the Autobots being captured. Optimus Prime takes

off. When he eventually reaches Torque 3, they

had had a dead circuit linker because Megatron

had fired circuit linkers at all of Torque's

robots. Well, they had added dead one at Autobot

headquarters from a previous battle. So Optimus

had had that and he had replaced it with the

one that Torque 3 had fired at him. So Optimus

Prime takes off the dead circuit linker that

he had had on himself and destroys Torque 3.

However, Megatron has a remote transmitter that

is still controlling the tankers. The Autobots

arrive at the oil platform and in the detention

part of the base, Spike, Hound, and Skyfire escape

by using an electromagnetic on Ravage and Rumble.

They then destroy the force field generator allowing

Prime and the others access to begin the battle.

Prime and Megatron fight over the remote transmitter

and it gets destroyed, but Megatron is going

to blow up the platform anyway. The explosions

begin as the Decepticons retreat and the rest

of the Autobots head for the hydrofoils. But

Prime needs to find Spike, Sky, Fire, and Hound.

They all escape and return to the hydrofoil.

And return the hydrofoil to Dr. Gates. And the

episode ends. Now for my thoughts on this episode.

I believe that the supercomputer in this episode

is the same voice as another character down the

line in the series. I'm not sure whose voice

it is. later on, but I'll find out more as I

watch the show. I really remember the voice of

Torque 3 being someone else. It could have been

one of the Quintessons, I'm not really sure.

I really didn't take a whole lot of notes in

this episode. It really wasn't an episode that

I liked. I don't know, it was just... It was

just basically a filler episode and everybody

knows how I feel about filler episodes So yeah

Let's see. What's next? Dr. Fujiyama's do it

is under that trip if it walks it probably needs

a long extension cord I wonder if batteries are

included when they turn it on it'll probably

blow the lights We're here to guard the robot,

not to make jokes at its expense. Gentlemen,

what you are about to see is state -of -the -art

robotics. This gentleman is the first female

ninja robot. I have named her... Nightbird! Magnificent!

Tremendous! Unbelievable! Very impressive! Bravo!

What is a ninja? An ancient Japanese warrior,

capable of amazing feats of skill and daring.

Yeah, I read about them. Ninjas were deadly assassins.

Uh, why build a robot ninja, Doctor? Isn't that

rather dangerous? Nightbird has been constructed

to demonstrate to the world the limitless capabilities

of technology. She will expand the horizons of

robotic research to assist mankind and not to

harm him I assure you gentlemen. She is not meant

for battle or assassinations, and I have limited

her powers accordingly now gentlemen if I may

It's the dynamical delinquent rumble Wait, we

can't risk hurting the humans Last episode today

is Enter the Nightbird to synopsize this episode.

We start this episode out at Autobot headquarters

where they are installing motion sensors into

the Ark's defensive systems. That way they can

be alerted faster when the Decepticons try to

get into the base. Cliffjumper rushes to Prime

and says he is needed at Teletran 1. Some famous

doctor slash scientist needs the Autobots' help

at an unveiling of the greatest robot humans

have ever built. At the ceremony there are several

questions raised about a robot ninja because

the doctor has unveiled night bird Excuse me

all of a sudden rumble frenzy and laserbeak attack

causing the humans to flee the building The Decepticon

jets rip open the roof and steal the ninja robot

At the temporary Decepticon base evil the evildoers

reprogram the ninja robot to steal the world's

energy chip from auto the Autobots then destroy

them. At the university where the assembly was

being held, Optimus Prime vows to the doctor

that they will get the robot ninja back unharmed.

The Autobots then head back to base for repairs.

Nightbird arrives at Autobot headquarters and

climbs the volcanic wall. The way it is, what

the hell. The volcano's wall, there we go. To

get in undetected, the ninja sneaks around the

base and climbs the walls to avoid the motion

sensors. She gets into Teletran 1's console and

steals the world's energy chip. However, she

is detected by Mirage and he sets off the alarm,

alerting the other Autobots. The Autobots go

out and search for the ninja robot and they find

her and a very light battle begins because they

don't want to harm her. The Decepticons are still

awaiting the delivery of the world's energy chip.

Nightbird escapes from the Autobots and takes

Prime's laser rifle, but she leaves her energy

sword. The Autobots soon track her down with

the help of Hound's infrared scope. Prime engages

her and Mirage goes invisible to get Prime his

gun back. But Nightbird counteracts everything

the Autobots try to do to stop her. Starscream

revolts against Megatron. at the Decepticon base,

and after entrapping him in an energy cage, Megatron

turns back to the view screen to see what he

has missed of the Autobots battling the ninja.

He finds that they've captured her in an energy

net of their own. The Decepticons must rescue

her so that they can get the world's energy chip.

The battle between the Autobots and Decepticons

begins and Megatron has brought along an anti

-matter blaster that sucks up energy, the energy

net trapping Nightbird. So the ninja is free

and the two factions are at war again. Back at

the Decepticon base, Starscream frees himself

and heads to the battle. He blasts the ninja

with his Null Ray. He makes a Snyder mark at

Megatron and flies off. The Decepticons give

chase because Megatron wants that traitor's hide.

The Autobots return to Nightbird to the Doctor

and he locks her up, thus ending the episode.

Now for my thoughts. This episode was kind of

weird to watch in my opinion. I liked it. It

was, again, as I've said, something different

like most of the episodes were today. The visual

effects with the ninja in this episode were very

cool. Her energy sword almost looked like a lightsaber.

Of course, everyone tries to replicate that thing.

I really don't have too much else as far as notes

on the episode. Okay folks it's time to bring

episode 6 to a close That's all for this episode

of the TFG1 podcast join me next time when I'll

be reviewing five more episodes from Transformers

generation 1 season 2 those being a Prime problem

the core and the insecticons syndrome and Dinobot

Island part 1 and Dinobot Island part 2 Thank

you for joining me on the TFG1 podcast. There

are four ways to get in touch with me or leave

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I did not receive any emails before recording

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comments or questions or whatever. And hope to

hear from you guys soon. For now, I am Michael

Blanchard saying in the immortal words of Optimus

Prime, transform and roll out. And thank you

for listening. Until next time.