From kendrick@io.com Mon Oct 30 11:20:57 CST 1995
Article: 25173 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 10/30 - Starscream's Ghost
Date: 30 Oct 1995 11:18:46 -0600
Organization: Illuminati Online
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Status: RO
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TF Weekday Oct 30 1995 - Starscream's Ghost

The EI/AD: Posession by an artificial intelligence? No real concrete evil
invention this episode, but a poltergestic Starscream is enough to get
things rolling.

The plot: After picking up some scrap metal on a supply run, Octane's ship
blows up, courtesy of a bomb planted by the Skugzoid mercenary.  Short and
green has been hired by Galvatron to eliminate Octane for treachery.
Rescued by icthyoid aliens, Octane gets to Autobot city where he confides
in Sandstorm his paranoia. Sandstorm applies some psychology to get Ocky's
mind off his troubles, which works until the Combaticons attack them. They
escape on Octane's shuttle, landing on a refueling asteroid on the way to
Cybertron where they stop for some grub. After a million failed attempts,
the Skugzoid loses it and beats with his bare hands on Octane to no
effect. On Cybertron, Octane is ambushed by Cyclonus and his Armada, and
is trapped in a shaft that takes him down into the Decepticon crypt.
Scrambling for a hiding space among the sacred markers, he runs into
Starscream, now a discorporate, disembodied ghost. As Cyclonus discovers
Octane, Starscream possesses Cyc's body and fakes a capture. Ambushed by
the Autobots as they try to leave, Cyclonus/Starscream cuts a deal with
Rodimus; let us go, and we'll bring you Galvatron. Cycscream fools
Galvatron into thinking he's extracted info from Octane, and Galvatron
gets to a graveyard planet where Rodimus is waiting for him. They fight
and Galvatron is severely beaten by Autobots waiting to ambush him.
Coming home, Galvatron is about to blast Cyclonus when Starscream reveals
himself. Octane runs away as Galvatron blows Cyc away. Galvy orders a
sweep to see to it that Cyclonus is repaired, not noticing that said
sweep is chuckling to himself in Starscream's voice...

The characters: So Octane stole Trypticon in an attempt to take over
Decepticon leadership, eh? You wouldn't think a "greedy, mean-spirited
bully" would have that kind of ambition. Still, it's a reasonable way to
get Octane on the Autobots' side, even if for only this one episode. But
why is he such good buddies with Sandstorm? I imagine that Sandy plays
the role of the self-made outcast, a lot like Gears did before 2005. This
makes him different from the war-mongering gun-happy soldier he is on the
tech spec, especially since we know Sandy as a founding member of the
Paratron colonists, rather than a long-time Autobot warrior. Starscream
gets a chance to break out of his tech spec limitations too. Instead of
being bent on conquest, he's now bent on revenge and just generally
raising hell. The Sweeps are such toads. Scourge is such a coward.
Cyclonus is all bravado and glory, though. Strange how the tech specs
don't seem to claim that these two have any personality at all. This
comes out in the comic Cyclonus too; Check out US Comic #69 for a
Cyclonus who is bummed out because he doesn't get to fight anymore. One
last thing... Are the Autobots the type of guys who would take a
pre-emptive strike against Galvatron? The ambush seems cold and
heartless... Perhaps the episode makes more sense in the context of what
happened to Octane and how that affected the Autobots. Check out
Onslaught and Blast-Off switching voices before they begin the attack on
Octane. Check out too Octane and Cyclonus switching dialogue lines at the
very end before Galvy comes home to roost. Examples of animators not
really being sure of their characters.

The plot holes: All the holes are based on the fact that we're really
seeing a day's worth of what feels like a ten-episode story arc. All of a
sudden, Octane is an Autobot who runs cargo, the Combaticos are all of a
sudden doing assasination missions, the Decepticons are able to slip
through Autobot security, and Rodimus seems to want Galvy's head on a
platter for no apparent reason. I WISH we had much more of the details
than in Starscream's Ghost and Ghost in the Machine. One hole that stands
out all by itself... Why is there a Decepticon crypt on Cybertron? The
Autobots have held the planet from the moment Unicron was beaten. There's
been no opportunity for anybody to create a memorial to those destroyed
Decepticons, unless somebody took time out to do this between Starscream's
coronation and the moment when Unicron arrived, which movie-time-wise is
all of forty minutes. More importantly, do the Autobots know about this
patch of land? If they do, are they respectful enough to leave it alone?

Moving pictures: It's average. It's nice in some places, especially with
close-ups of eerie faces that almost look as good as first-season Toei
close-ups. Check out the cheekbones on Galvatron's face as he comes from
smoking from the battle, where you have two lines coming down making him
look old and decrepit. Or the close up Cyclonus' face at the end where
Starscream reveals himself; the center piece of his helmet makes him look
like an Egyptian pharoah, and his eyes bug out. This is a rarity, because
usually they're content to just move the mouth and use the rest as a
background matte. Check out the sweeps when Scourge is cravenly
suggesting that Cyclonus lead the assault on Cybertron; the gun turrets
flow smoothly into the rest of the hovership, rather than there being a
big piece sticking up where the sweep's head would be.

The cuts: Can't tell. Mostly silly stuff from the fight at the beginning.
Nothing that really takes a chunk out of the story. Although I do wish
they had the good sense to cut the silly cheesecake shot of Arcee that
Octane is drooling over while he flies away from Junk, or that silly
"tall, dark, and metallic" line from the waittress in the asteroid bar.
That kind of potboiling gratuitious gangster movie element really belongs
somewhere else... Although it did work for Matrix Quest.

Toys they should reissue: Want a new Octane? He wasn't exactly the best
Diaclone toy they ever came up with. If memory serves, he never even
showed up in the triple-changer commercials, those being reserved for
A-train, B-wing, Sandy and Sideman. I wouldn't mind a new Sandstorm
either, maybe in cool grey and brown desert camo rather than the
obnoxious orange.

Quotables:
"Yeah, yeah, I know... Death comes to he who hides behind my marker."

"I'll never talk! ..."
"You'd better, before they discover your bad acting!"

"There seems to be something wrong with Cyclonus's voice!"
"Yes, he sounds like Starscream!"
"No need to be insulting..."

KKC, I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my
job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my
job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my
job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my
job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my
job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my
job.
--
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