Transformers: Prime finds itself just what it needed – a new enemy!
What They Say:
Convoy – Assisting Agent Fowler transporting an implosion device.
The Review:
Sometimes things just don’t go the way you want them. Case in point is seemingly anything involving Agent Fowler. The agent finds himself in trouble right from the start after he gets into some dealing with the Decepticons while transporting a nuclear generation system to its secret destination and while he drives them off, it’s not before they manage to down his attack craft. The obvious solution, and it’s one that Fowler pretty much demands right away, is to contact the Autobots and have them open a ground bridge to him, grab the device and then open the bridge again to its final destination. While it’s primitive technology, Fowler does point out that under Decepticon hands, it could blow considerably and destroy four states around it. Naturally, where it doesn’t got his way (again) is that Prime won’t let him shuttle it through the ground bridge since if anything goes wrong, and you know it will, it’d irradiate the entire country and beyond.
So, it’s convoy time! With Prime in the lead and using his entire trailer, something we haven’t seen all that much of, he heads out with Bumblebee and Bulkhead to move it through the surprisingly green countryside. What makes it interesting is that while you’d expect to see the Decepticons making an obvious approach on them once they get rolling, it’s actually a group of humans that are trying to take them down. The organization is known as Mech and this particular group is led by someone named Cyrus who wants the technology for their own use rather than just swiping it to sell it. The people involved may not be top of the line, or at least unprepared since they didn’t know that these were alien robots and thought it was just some civilian drivers, but they have some solid gear with cars and helicopters that are shielded from Autobot sensors and some personal armor suits that look primitive in comparison but allows them to survive their encounters with the Autobots in a reasonable way.
Not surprisingly, Starscream catches wind of this operation and sends out his guys to track them down and stage an attack, which provides for some solid action in the second half. With two forces on the move here, things split in an interesting way and it gives the show a bit more flavor than the usual back and forth between the two main forces that we usually have. And Cyrus isn’t exactly a rube either since he catches on to the trick used to hide the device and that’s something that Fowler can’t let happen since he’s just as much of a danger as the Decepticons are in their own way. Another welcome change is that the human element that helps out the Autobots aren’t a constant throughout it, such as their being kept behind and not involved in the actual convoy. They do step in to try and save the day since there’s so much at risk, but it works better with this method rather than them being there from the start, especially since it’s a military operation.
In Summary:
Transformers: Prime continues to be a surprisingly impressive show. The early initial arc was a bit rough because it was so dark and murky with its locations and characters, but as they get out and about in the world more, especially with episodes like this, we’re getting to see some much needed life and brightness. I still want to see them get into a real city to cruise around some though. With the introduction of a new potential enemy with the Mech group who have their own goals, it opens up the show to a lot more possibilities and nuance, be it as it may, with how things can shift as more is revealed. The human side comes out pretty well here and there’s a lot to like as Transformers: Prime continues to impress.
Grade: B+
