“In this new set of adventures the Autobots live on Earth and maintain their secret identity. They are joined by 3 teens as they battle the Decepticons.” – IMDB Synopsis
I desperately needed a palate cleanser after suffering through the WFC trilogy earlier this year. As a kid, I had already seen all of G1, Beast Wars, Armada, and Animated. All the good stuff. But I’ve never fully watched Transformers Prime. Only some episodes here and there, so I thought it would be the perfect time to finally give what a good chunk of the fan base calls the best Transformers show.
And you know what? I can see why a lot of people say that. This is a really damn good show that has its fair share of overarching plot beats and fun one-off episodes that still add to everyone’s overall character. It’s not a fault, but in both a broad and narrow sense, this series (at least for season 1) does nothing new, but it hits the tried and true plot beats from previous series really well. A group of Autobots basically on their back foot, protecting Earth in secret from the Decepticons. They eventually find themselves entwined with a group of young humans. You have the relationships between the bots and the humans, humans and humans, bots and cons, etc. There’s constant cross-pollination between the groups that slowly breeds rivalries and friendships. And the long-standing story about Megatron trying to harvest dark energon from the Earth to create an army and return to Cybertron is very interesting; it has its own twists and turns. It does a certain thing with the lore that has been done before and is a bit divisive within the fanbase, but I personally like it. And the end of this season ends on a really interesting note. The overall story and the mini stories within this season were very, very good.
For better or worse, it seems like this franchise has found its comfort in select casts of bots and cons for series/movies, and they sprinkle in more and take some out as they progress. As far as this cast goes, it’s one of my favorites. A seasoned leader, Optimus. Old head Ratchet, rambunctious Bulkhead. Arcee and Bumblebee. It’s really just the Transformers Animated cast with Arcee swapped for Prowl and different personalities for some of the others. I love this cast; they mesh well together. Their inter-dynamics are great. They are friends, soldiers in arms, and they are a family that fights and protects each other. I really do think these are some of the most definitive versions, both design-wise and writing-wise, for all of these characters. Their personal arcs this season were all interesting and created most of the best episodes. I really do love this group of bots and their portrayals.
So, since the WFC trilogy had no humans, I wasn’t really able to talk about my personal thoughts on one of the most back-and-forth debates in the fandom, which is human inclusion in the series. Genuinely, my belief is humans are almost necessary to this series and a backbone of the franchise. BUT more often than not in the history of the franchise, they’ve been written awfully. When it’s done properly, you have this really needed bond between two different species that can carry a lot of impact throughout a series. I think of Sally, the kids from Armada, and Sam from the movies. Their bonds with the bots and sometimes even the cons are some of the best moments in their respective media. When it’s bad, it is very bad, though.
Which brings me to this group, which, no, they aren’t bad. I think my point above rings true, honestly, for some of them. Mainly Jack and Raf. Their bonds and/or arcs with Optimus/Arcee and Bee, respectively, are some of this season’s highlights to me. Whether it be Raf finding a kindred soul with Bee or Optimus seeing a younger him in Jack while he and Arcee have this very brother-big-sister relationship. Even Agent Fowler and Jack’s mom are cool characters, and I’m always a sucker for a human organization antagonist in this series, so MECH is dope. Obviously, I’ve left someone out. I don’t hate Miko. I actually love her relationship with Bulkhead. My problem is her hotheadedness and temperament lead to so many situations that should be deadly constantly that not only drag Bulkhead in but the other bots and her friends. This isn’t a trait specific to her; the others do it too. She is just the biggest culprit, and it got to a point where it became annoying. And I really do like her character and connection with Bulkhead. Again, finding a kindred soul in him, finding family. Wanting to help. She’s just so hard-headed, and her antics seem like she never learns from them, and they become repetitive quickly. I can see her becoming one of my favorite characters if they do her arc right, but as season one went on, she became my least favorite character.
Just like the bots, I really do love the cast of cons in this show. Even the fodder Vehicons always pose somewhat of a threat, but between Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Knockout, Arachnid, and Breakdown (RIP Dreadwing, your zombie episode was amazing). That’s a great set of characters there. Unlike the bots, I think really only Megatron is close to a definitive depiction of the character in my eyes. With the caveat that for Knockout and Breakdown, this is really the only media they have going for them, so by default it is for them. And Knockout, in particular, is such a fun, charismatic villain. It’s no shock that he’s a fan favorite to this day. Megs is a more amalgamation of his more brooding incarnations with a very Bayverse first movie design. I love how he both refuses to adapt an Earth alt mode and also is a jet. I love tank and gun Megatron. Personally though, I love when he’s able to fly. It just adds so much to him being menacing. Which he very much is in this show. Starscream is still scheming, very flamboyant, and his designs are some of the best for the character ever. The sleekness of the bomber is peak. He is a scene stealer whenever he’s on screen. Same for Arachnid. Her beef with Arcee and Jack is very fun. Soundwave is interesting. In other media, he is always menacing and overly loyal, which makes him very scary. But having him go through this vow of silence for the cause is so unique and really applies just how in this he is for the Decepticons. I love how much the cons get to shine together and in their own right
I’m interested to see how much better the animation gets as the series goes on, especially for the movie. I do really enjoy the way this show looks, but it’s clear where some cuts had to be made. The actual Transformers look amazing and move so fluidly within the world. The humans look a little uncanny to me, but not too much. It’s really the background environments that suffer from a lot of repetition (the desert canyon area got so much mileage this season) and not looking as great as everything else, but I think it’s a fine tradeoff. The music is great, the intro is peak. And the voice acting across the board is phenomenal. Peter Cullen and Frank Welker always come through when it comes to reprising their iconic roles.
So yeah, it took me a while to actually get through this, but I really did overall enjoy my time with the first season of this show. For the most part, I loved the characters; pretty much every episode was interesting and/or fun. Especially the multiparters. This has some, to me, definitive depictions of some characters mixed with some really interesting depictions of others. I see why people covet this series so highly, and I’m excited to see how it evolves.
Transformers Prime (Season 1) – 8/10
Notes – This took so long to finish up and come out due to life and taking a two week vacation. I don’t think it can be stated enough how much of an icon Peter Cullen was and will always be. To this franchise especially but also to all the one’s that he graced with his amazing voice acting talent. May he rest in peace.
