From kendrick@io.com Thu Nov  2 11:00:35 CST 1995
Article: 25322 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 11/2 - Madman's Paradise
Date: 2 Nov 1995 11:00:05 -0600
Organization: Illuminati Online
Lines: 102
Message-ID: <47atel$egn@bermuda.io.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: bermuda.io.com
Status: RO
X-Status:

TF Weekday Nov 2 1995 - Madman's Paradise

The EI/AD: A dimensional portal used to dispose of Quintesson criminals
is this episode's alien device.

The plot: Bored out of his gourd at a diplomatic function, Daniel wanders
off with Grimlock playing a game of kick the cog, only to accidentally
discover planetary corridor CB311-B4, which leads to a weird chamber with
stylized heiroglyphics and cool monster pictures. Grimlock's tail
accidentally swipes a panel, and the two of them are swept away to
Minonia, a weird fantasy world where they are summarily attacked by tree
people. Rescued by a mysterious figure in red, Grimlock is recruited into
fighting the forces of 'The Golden One' while Daniel is locked away.
Daniel meets an old guy who looks a lot like their rescuer, only to learn
that the latter is the Red Wizard, an evil guy who betrayed the peaceful
ruler of Minonia. While Grimlock fights outside, a rogue magic missile
hits the dungeon and Daniel and the old guy escape. Meanwhile back on
Cybertron, Blaster and Co. search for Daniel. Steeljaw sniffs out the
corridor and Perceptor divines the way to use the dimensional portal, and
the Autobots arrive in time to help out Grimlock... Only to be told by
Daniel that they're fighting on the wrong side. The old guy is able to
release the Golden One with Ramhorn's help, and the Red Wizard is
revealed to be the banished Quintesson, Mara al-Utha. With Blaster's
help, the weakened Golden One is able to amplify his voice to cast
counter-spells and banish the Quintesson yet again. Peace is restored,
the Autobots are able to all go home, and all Grimlock can do is remember
that Spike warned Daniel not to get his tuxedo dirty.

The characters: Why is Grimlock serving drinks at the beginning of this
episode? For all his childishness in the cartoon, this is one episode
where Grims actually demonstrates that his intelligence is more than
meets the eye. He is able to correctly divine that the Red Wizard doesn't
really need his help if he's such a noble and loving ruler, which
suggests that Grims probably has quite a bit on the ball in the tactical
and strategic department. The tapes are referred to as, tapes. Usually
this sounds very fan-like since the tapes don't have an official subgroup
(IE, they're not called Cassettebots or anything) but it's refreshing to
hear it actually used for a change. Too bad Ramhorn and Steeljaw do
nothing but growl and grunt this episode; none of the snazzy dialogue a
la 'Forever is a Long Time Coming.' Carly is forthright and motherly, and
for a change it's she who goes off with the Autobots to rescue Daniel
rather than Spike, who's much too busy doing diplomatic stuff. The Golden
One is a metamorphic magic user, changing into a dragon. Interesting how
they suggest that perhaps magic is verbally founded, since the guy needs
to be heard in order for his spells to have any efficacy. And the
Quintesson is manipulative and opportunistic, the worst of the worst.
It's too bad that all the Quintessons weren't like this. Maybe this is
why they're such a joke as a bad guy; once they banished Al-Badur,
Merdain, and Mara al-Utha, all the really devious Quints were gone. I
personally find it interesting and slightly apalling that each of these
Quint names are Arabic-sounding rather than pseudo-Latin. Like Abdul
Faghadi, many of these episodes play on the old 80s prejudice against
Arab nations.

The plot holes: This dimensional portal is a pretty weak excuse to get
Transformers into a fantasy setting. They could do a 'Moonlighting' bit
where they ignore continuity completely and use the exact same characters
in a completely different surrounding, but that just wouldn't feel much
like TF. The only plot hole that bugs me is the bit about sorcery; is
there room for magic in a science fiction world? Certainly you have
fusion concepts like Shadowrun or Cyberpunk which meld the two reasonably
well, but the only precedent for magic is 'A Decepticon Raider in King
Arthur's Court,' a fun but silly episode. This episode is about twice as
silly and almost as fun.

Moving pictures: Sub-par animation, although the morphing of the tree
people is pretty cool to watch. The more I read about dinosaurs, the more
Grimlock's character design bugs me. I wish he would stalk around rather
than lumbering from place to place. Effects animation overtime goes to
the magic mirror and the rows and rows of wizards casting missile and
shielding spells all over the place. Check out the way the tapes
transform too; they subtly and uniquely 'thicken' into their animal and
humanoid forms. I wish that the toys did this; Steeljaw and Ramhorn look
pretty sorry from head-on. Overkill, the Decepticon t-rex tape, had legs
which separated and gave the illusion of a thicker body.

The cuts: A bit from the beginning where Daniel is wandering around bored
and quite a bit from the castle seige scene. Also they cut a few seconds
out of the endcap filler, which is just a history of the Decepticons,
repeated from the end of 'Forever is a Long Time Coming,' which IMO they
should have cut out completely.

Toys they should reissue: Anybody ready for a new Ultra Magnus? I have to
wonder who they would have put in his place if they didn't have the
Convoy Armored left over from the old Diaclone line. I imagine a G2
Magnus as being completely independent from the Optimus Prime design,
something specialized and gimmicky.

Quotables:
"Where are we?"
"Not Cybertron. California, maybe?"
"Wow, even California's not this weird..."

"Don't panic yet. Stay calm 'til we know what's going on. *THEN* we'll
panic."

KKC, has some nice memories attached to this episode too.
--
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