Transformers Prime - "Crisscross" - Talkback [06/25]

[The Huntsman]

Today @ 7:00 PM ET on The Hub

Seems that this show really wants MECH to be a key player in the story.

Airachnid makes a deal with Silas to get revenge against Arcee and Jack.

[Manhunter]

So, now one of the kids' parents is in on the secret.

[zoombie]

So, now one of the kids' parents is in on the secret.

Yeah this episode is pretty standard in Digimon, except for Frontiers and I guess Savers since they knew from the beginning, anyone back on topic.

It was a good episode, it is nice for classic or traditional lead characters to take a back seat in this one.

[Dragnatek]

I have no problem with MECH on occasion, while yes the show's main focus should be Autobots vs decepticons some other enemies are a nice break, however they should not be over used, and two episodes in a row is well enough for now. I would be happy if we don't see Mech again for the rest of the season. However I am interested in seeing where their plot is headed. Much the same way I prefer that Airacnid remains a free agent and I hope she actually does not join the main group of Decepticons.

Anyway this episode grew on me. I like it when shows are able not to follow the status quo. It would have been so easy for Jack's mom to still know nothing about what is going on, convenient memory loss and the like. So actually having her remember and be brought in on the secret is nice. I prefer it when shows do things like this.

[Monte]

Y'know this episode really hits home about how out of place the human kids are taking any role on their missions. I mean it started wih the kids stumbling on the secret the the autobots protecting them out of free the decepticons would catch on... however the ONLY reason their enemies caught on to the humans relationship was from the kids getting involved on the missions... if the kids just stayed at the base on missions, the decepticons, Airachnaid and MECH would have never found out about them. Actully i'm surprised that the decepticons haven't made more of an effort to track down the kids since that's what i thought they were going to do when Soundwave took that pic of them during the premiere... at the very least I would hope the show would call attention to this by having fowler assaign men to protect Jack's mom; afterall if they don't, what's to stop MECH from pulling the same trick twice to get their hands on an autobot?

[zoombie]

What happened to the tradtional, of the whole world knowing about the Autobots and the Decepticons? The Autobots were like celebirties, in one episode they were cast in a movie. One time Megatron plotted to get the humans to lose their faith in Optimous Prime, how could they do that if they don't know who he is in the first place.

Megatron should just attacked New York city or something and let everyone know the excistidence of this alien robots.

[Monte]

What happened to the tradtional, of the whole world knowing about the Autobots and the Decepticons? The Autobots were like celebirties, in one episode they were cast in a movie. One time Megatron plotted to get the humans to lose their faith in Optimous Prime, how could they do that if they don't know who he is in the first place.

Maybe the creators thought they might prefer to actually embrace the idea of "robots in disguise"...
honestly When the whole world knows your existence then having a disguise has pretty much no meaning... The transformations are nothing more than a fancy mode of transportation, made even less necessary if you have something like a landbridge to teleport you everywhere. The transformations loose much of their purpose and they become nothing more than a fancy gimmick to make toys... better to have the gimmick have a REAL role in the series than only be their for the sake of toy making

Megatron should just attacked New York city or something and let everyone know the excistidence of this alien robots.

And what would megatron gain from that?
If he did that, then the militaries of earth would no longer have any reason from NOT hitting the decpticons with everything they got; something that the G1 series ignored. The transformers may be able to shrug off bullets, but cannons and missles will probably hurt... A LOT... Hell we even saw in the last episode that MECH managed to create a weapon small enough to fit on a chopper that can KO a transformer. Now imagine if the US military had the similar tech, but the gov't funding to make 100 of those types of guns. The decpticons are far too few in number to handle both the Autobots AND a concentrated military effort ... now if megatron had his zombie army; THOSE kinds of numbers would have meant certain doom for the earth.

[Dudley]

I only watched half of this episode, and I loved it. I always enjoy someone else getting in on the secret, especially if its a parental family member, because that adds a bit of added emotional connection, even though the outcome is cliche

Man, Airachnid is scary. It's always frighteningly fun to have a sadistic female villain, and now I get the pun in the name!
I actually like MECH as an reoccurring adversary, and I agree that they shouldn't be used to often. Maybe a nice rotation between them and the Decepticons. I wouldn't mind if the season finale is tied to them either.

All in all, I'm really enjoying this show.

[HEATXZ]

Good episode :anime:
Cool to see Airachind to turn into a helicopter

[TurboMan]

This was the best episode so far, really, the action was intense, you really felt the urgency of the situation and I just love how ruthless Airachnid and Mech were and how the show went the extra little step to show how careless those guys are, I mean, they showed us a human mother get shot by their knockout electric stuff, that is just... wow.

With Deus Ex Machina, Sick Mind, Speed Metal, Out of His Head, Predatory, Operation: Breakdown and now Crisscross I think the show finally passed their "Prime" mark and I hope from now and on all episodes will be this great.

[Gold Guy]

I don't care for MECH, but I really enjoyed this episode. I totally did not expect any of the parents to find out, at least not untill near the series finale. Airachnid is one of the coolest villains on the show; I am hoping that she joins the Decepticons later. Also, this episode shows why Jack is the coolest from the kids; he was smart enough to call Fowler for help.

[Mr. Hypocrite]

Y'know this episode really hits home about how out of place the human kids are taking any role on their missions. I mean it started wih the kids stumbling on the secret the the autobots protecting them out of free the decepticons would catch on... however the ONLY reason their enemies caught on to the humans relationship was from the kids getting involved on the missions... if the kids just stayed at the base on missions, the decepticons, Airachnaid and MECH would have never found out about them.

I agree on this. Although the only reason Jack was around for that mission where Airachnaid showed up is because they all thought there was no threat. As I recall it was Arcee who didn't get him out of there as soon as possible. It does seem as though Optimus's decision has backfired and put the kids in more danger.

What happened to the tradtional, of the whole world knowing about the Autobots and the Decepticons? The Autobots were like celebirties, in one episode they were cast in a movie. One time Megatron plotted to get the humans to lose their faith in Optimous Prime, how could they do that if they don't know who he is in the first place.

I Miss those days a little myself, but as already pointed out, this status quo is more true to the Robots In Disguise edict that's been key to Transformers since forever. Plus they do have an alliance with human governments, which is also important to the series.

I don't care for MECH, but I really enjoyed this episode. I totally did not expect any of the parents to find out, at least not untill near the series finale. Airachnid is one of the coolest villains on the show; I am hoping that she joins the Decepticons later. Also, this episode shows why Jack is the coolest from the kids; he was smart enough to call Fowler for help.

Ironic since quite a few have turned on Jack since the first Airachnaid ep. I agree that when he knows fully whats going on, he thinks straighter (grabbing Silas's radio), and while not as smart as Raf, he's less reckless than Miko (Science has proven it's impossible to be more reckless than Miko). So now his mom is in on the secret. No idea how that will go, but it will be interesting to see what an adult who isn't Government brings to the table.

Also, I don't know how things will go with Mech, but they may manage to become a real threat here. Now they've seen how a transformer copies earth vehicles. They learn a bit more with every encounter. Provided they don't run afoul of Megatron they'll be okay, because if they get on his badside, he'll wipe them out to the last man.

[RoyalRubble]

Pretty good episode. Nice to see Airachnid again. I liked her back in her first episode and I liked her now as well. I don't really mind MECH, but I wasn't expecting to see them again so soon.

[anime_guru]

I don't care for MECH, but for the first time, this episode made them menacing. I can't say on the level of decepticons in terms of menacing but enough for me to realize if they will go after family, they may stop at nothing. Plus making a deal with a former decepticon, like airachnid, is icing on the proverbial cake. In a word, this episode was fantastic. Though I am very surprised there were no quips at the end like not another human. But in all honesty, great episode and I can't wait to see more of this (far better than bayformers anyday of the week)

I can definitely see a lot coming from them in the future.
Honestly, after the premiere in november, I was very not confident in this transformers; because it didn't feel nostalgic/cheesy, it didn't feel like Beast Wars/Beast Machines, and thankfully it didn't feel like the Japanese incarnations of transformers that aired on CN or bayformers. IMHO, it is finally getting a foundation that is connected to a Transformers universe, while retaining its own personal identity. It's a fantastic treat to watch this and my only complaint is timing. Since the hub moved the schedule, it's honestly hard to keep up with the show. But personally, if it was in a steadier slot, I think many would be hooked.

[ktk]

That was a good episode, if a little implausible.

Airachnid immediately jumps up into the upper echelon of the interesting characters list on this show. The helicopter alt mode was an interesting combo with her spider form. I wonder if there's any way Hasbro can make a triplechanger involving a spider and a copter.

And yeah, nice to see Agent Fowler do something really useful, and actually save the day for once. That's a big plus for his character.

[sparkykandy]

Couldn't help but notice how nice the animation was in this episode. Anyways, it does seem that this series is getting better, and I do like that at least one of the parents found out. I'll never get why kids (or teenagers) in kid shows always have to keep important secrets of what's really going on from their parents. You'd think it would be better to let the parents know, but meh.

Anyways, I'm curious to know what will now happen now that June knows. Will we see her actually interacting with the Autobots from here on out, or will most everything stay the same, except she's just in the loop?

Oh, and while they're doing a good job of showing M.E.C.H. as a credible threat, and while I don't mind the addition of additional villains, (Thought that having the Quintessons in Season Three of G1 was a breath of fresh air.) I do hope that they go back to Decepticons. I want to know what things will happen with Megatron back in charge.

[Mandouga]

This was the best episode so far

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. I thought this was the worst episode ever. In short, Mrs. Darby should have just given Jack the benefit of the doubt instead of stereotypically (and predictably) trying to lay down the law on him. Not every parent is like that. There are parents who do the former (it also doesn't help that Jack's mom is stereotypically/predictably one of those parents who has to see in order to believe). Also, Arcee should have just revealed herself right there instead of using the "I don't exist" excuse to leave him on his own. I'm sorry, but his mom finding out or not, I feel that this focus on Jack's home life (which could be done in any other TV show, animated or otherwise) very nearly ruined the entire episode.

In any case, now that Jack's mom does know, I really hope this sticks. In other words, I really hope there isn't a later episode where she gets mindwiped. (checks wikipedia) At 17 episodes, going back to the status quo now could (emphasis on "could") ruin everything, IMHO. It's true that the Autobots were trying to keep their existence secret, but humans know about them now, even if it is just 4 of them. I honestly think that going back to the status quo at this point would be taking the easy way out. For this reason, I hope that this show will actually see this through to the end.

[Neo Yi]

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. I thought this was the worst episode ever. In short, Mrs. Darby should have just given Jack the benefit of the doubt instead of stereotypically (and predictably) trying to lay down the law on him. Not every parent is like that. There are parents who do the former (it also doesn't help that Jack's mom is stereotypically/predictably one of those parents who has to see in order to believe). Also, Arcee should have just revealed herself right there instead of using the "I don't exist" excuse to leave him on his own. I'm sorry, but his mom finding out or not, I feel that this focus on Jack's home life (which could be done in any other TV show, animated or otherwise) very nearly ruined the entire episode.

Actually, I think her behavior was justified. Remember, Jack is portrayed as a very reliable, very well behaved, and very mature kid. For a sixteen year old, this is especially so. I think it's clear Jack is the type who would do whatever he can to uphold responsibilities, likely earning his mother's trust.

So suddenly he starts hiding stuff from her. And it increases more and more. Just how do you think June is going to react? Suddenly her smart, mature, well-behaved boy is ditching and lying behind her back? This isn't the Jack she knows. She has every right to suspect. Just as much as Arcee has every right to hide her secret. The less people know, the safer they are. It's simple Occam's Razor.

I admit I honestly did not care for the Jack subplot (because Jack is a boring character), but mundane stuff like these will help expand the characters. Having June in on the whole alien robots thing can only hope to increase that kind of character development.

[Mandouga]

So suddenly he starts hiding stuff from her. And it increases more and more. Just how do you think June is going to react?

I had hoped it would be different from how other parents are portrayed on movies and TV. Yes, he's been trying to earn her trust, but trust is a two-way street. For this reason, and like I said, I feel she should have given him the benefit of the doubt at least.

The less people know, the safer they are.

That may be, but like I also said, humans know about the Autobots now, even if it is just Jack, Niko, Raphael, and now Jack's mom, and for that reason, the whole "I don't exist" thing wasn't an excuse for leaving Jack on his own. Arcee is part of Jack's life now, whether she (or the other Autobots for that matter) likes it or not, and as a result it was beyond her control. Instead of displaying that right away, this episode resorted to the old "character-tries-to-show-disbelieving-parent(s)-something-amazing-but-is-left-on-his-own-getting-him-in-trouble-with-said-parent(s)" bit, which I felt was forced "realism" done only for the sake of doing it, especially since it was likely that Jack's mom was probably going to be kidnapped anyway (hence, the "beyond Arcee's control" explanation). IMHO, realism just for the sake of having realism isn't really realism at all, and that makes me a little worried as to what future episodes will be like (at least in this respect).

For what it's worth, I knew Airachnid would fail in her revenge attempt, at least partially because of MECH (who had defintely cemented their position as a third player). I've been told that Airachnid has a helicopter form in this episode, but I must have missed that because I don't remember seeing it.

[Monte]

I've been told that Airachnid has a helicopter form in this episode, but I must have missed that because I don't remember seeing it.

Yes it was how she escaped from fowler and his forces. She copied his helicopter the same way Skyquake copied his jet ("Not again!") and then transformed and flew away. Also Silas took a moment to note "So that's how they do it", talking about how the transformers acquire new forms