From kendrick@io.com Mon Oct 23 09:37:15 CDT 1995
Article: 24796 of alt.toys.transformers
Path: news.io.com!io.com!not-for-mail
From: kendrick@io.com (Kendrick Kerwin Chua)
Newsgroups: alt.toys.transformers
Subject: TF Weekday 10/23 - Five Faces of Darkness Part V
Date: 23 Oct 1995 09:36:12 -0500
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TF Weekday Oct 23 1995 - Five Faces of Darkness Part V

The EI/AD: A failsafe switch at the center of Cybertron which deactivates
all Transformers is this episode's Evil Invention...

The plot: As the Decepticons attack Cybertron, Ultra Magnus takes on the
whole army while Rodimus Prime leads everyone into the interior to dig in
a defensive front. Galvatron sends Blitzwing back to the Quintesson fleet
to deliver a report, Sky Lynx gets to Io to stomp the Predacons and
rescue Blurr, Wheelie, Fairborne and the transform cog, and on Earth
Trypticon rolls over the Minibots and destroys Teletran-1. Blitzwing
overhears the Quints talking about the hoax of a Decepticon matrix and
sending a Sharkticon team to flip the switch that will deactivate all
Transformers. Galvatron isn't much for listening, so B-wing takes the
information to Rodimus out of desperation. Sky Lynx is shot down over the
Autobot City by the bay and the Autobots play a deadly serious game of
football, successfully getting the cog to Metroplex, who transforms and
stomps Trypticon, throwing him in the ocean. Meanwhile the Sharkticons
are about to flip the switch deep inside Cybertron as Rodimus and
Blitzwing gun them down. Blitzwing is about to declare is loyalty to
Galvatron despite his position when Galvatron comes in, guns THEM down,
and flips the switch thinking the Decepticon matrix will be revealed. All
Transformers all over are frozen in time, regardless of where in the
universe they are. As the Quintessons disembark and begin to collect the
spoils of war, Spike grabs Rodimus' gun and blasts the switch, restoring
the Transformers to normal. The Quints run, and Rodimus and Galvatron are
about to continue the battle when Blitzwing threatens to end the battle
his own way. The Decepticons leave, making Blitzwing an outcast. The
Autobots ponder the implications of the discovery that their creators are
also their enemies.

The characters: Pipes is a little misused here... He's supposed to be a
drooling gadget lover, but the precedent of him installing the transform
cog into Metroplex makes the writers turn him into a psuedo-medic for
later episodes. Same goes for Blitzwing but tenfold. B-wing's supposed to
be loyal and snivelling and playing a few cards short of a deck; see
`Triple Takeover' for a prime example. Instead here he's sharp,
observant, stealthy, and more concerned with doing the right thing than
doing the easy thing. Heroic Decepticons versus Evil Autobots, to coin a
Bergrenn phrase. They mess this up in all later episodes making Octane
the outcast, rather than Blitzwing. Sky Lynx is your standard cavalry
hero, without any of the droll egotism for which he's so famous. The
Predacons aren't much more than heavy guns; note that when Headstrong
runs way, somebody yells "Razorclaw, come back here" as if the fearless
lion would be the one to run away. Magnus is supposed to be the tactical
boy, not the daring gung-ho lone wolf, which makes his solo-defense
against the WHOLE Decepticon attack pretty ludicrous (as if it weren't
stupid to begin with.) I'll say it up front now... This entire episode
was a toy commercial soup to nuts. It contains almost NONE of the
endearing qualities of the Transformers fiction, let alone a coherent
story as a convenient cover for the advertisement.

The plot holes: Too many to mention. Although Autobot City being more
inland than it was in the movie deserves a special mention all by itself,
assuming they haven't seen fit to move it. Interesting to note that AC
seems to have a residential suburb district... Otherwise, where were all
the people running away from?

Moving pictures: Anybody want to count how many Constructicons are
sitting on Metroplex celebrating that the Autobots successfully retrieved
the cog? Seems like they can't decide if the cog is a sphere or a literal
cog wheel, if the thing that Wheelie's holding is supposed to be it.
Check out the gun on top of Bumblebee, which looks suspiciously like the
roof-mounted gun the Pretender Bumblebee sports. Watch for an Autobot
symbol mistakenly drawn on our defecting Blitzwing. Also check out the
return of Cyclonus' armada... You see two Cyclonus jets flying around in the
battle when Magnus is talking two-fisted to Dirge and Ramjet. And lots of
silly effects animation, like Sweeps spinning out of control or Swerve
being stomped into the soft Oregon soil by Trypticon. Ugh, this episode
makes 'City of Steel' look like a masterpiece by comparison.

The cuts: I can't really tell, although I know a bit of the initial
stages of the battle is cut out (just because it was so boring). I
honestly can't imagine why it'd be worth finding out.

Toys they should reissue: Predacons would be nice, but it's hard to
justify them at this point. Except for the Dinobots, which have always
been popular, Hasbro seemed to avoid releasing anything that didn't turn
into a familiar vehicular mode. Maybe they learned something after
watching the sales figures of the later-era Transformer toys.

Quotables:
"Oops! Wrong channel!"

"Could I interest you in changing sides?"

"This planet's not big enough for the both of us!"

KKC, has never ever seen a lot of the third-season shows before, so I'll
honestly be reviewing them for the very first time. Can't wait to get a
look at 'Call of the Primitives'....
--
Kendrick Kerwin Chua - "London? You put the Eiffel Tower back... in London?!"
kendrick@io.com - WTB: 1980s Transformers, US and Japanese, and GIJoe figures
Necronomcon FAQ home page at http://www.io.com/~kendrick/necronomicon or anon
FTP at io.com:/pub/usr/kendrick -Personal home at http://www.io.com/~kendrick