Is there still more than meets the eye in the second season of the original Transformers show?
Another Transformers box set was released last week. This time it's Season Two, Volume One. The set contains episodes 17 through 44 which originally aired between September 23, 1985 and November 5, 1985. This was back when you could get a new episode almost every day. I mentioned when I r eviewed the Season One set that I didn't really watch Transformers as a kid. Watching them now is a strange trip back to the 80s.
"Atlantis, Arise!" If you watched the first season, on the last episode, "Heavy Metal War," it appeared that the Decepticons were defeated. The Autobots managed to knock them into a lake of molten lava. With the start of Season Two, the Decepticons are back to their old tricks. Actually, they've come up with some new ones. You can clearly see that the series is slowly taking a different direction from the first season. Similar to G.I. Joe, things often get a little wacky. In the two part "Dinobot Island," we discover there's still real live dinosaurs on Earth. In "Atlantis, Arise!" we also discover that the lost city of Atlantis exists and is inhabited by green scaley Atlanteans. Let's not forget "A Decepticon Raider In King Arthur's Court." Transformers in King Arthur's time? Merlin, castles and even a fire-breathing dragon show up. Crazy times indeed.
"A Prime Problem" What about the Decepticons' plans? You would think that Megatron and Cobra Commander went to similar schools of villainy. Megatron manages to come up with crazy, yet incredible plans that somehow manage to backfire. But if he went back and tried to tweak things, he could perhaps bemore successful the next time around. In "A Prime Problem," Megatron manages to make a clone of Optimus Prime. When Optimus is knocked down during a battle, Megatron has Optimus scanned and enters the data into one of his computers. The result is a perfect clone-copy of Optimus Prime. When the clone arrives at the Autobot base, no one can tell the difference between the two. As you can imagine, something goes wrong with the plan. With some more planning, this could be perfected. Megatron could easily send in another clone to spy or even defeat the Autobots from the inside. When the plan fails, it's simply discarded.
"Attack Of The Autobots" In the "Microbots" episode, the Autobots suddenly have a "transmat reduction beam." They use this to enter Megatron's body. While it's not really used as an offensive weapon, it would be so easy to simply enter the Decepticons and pull out circuits to disable them. Or perhaps they could create some sort of immobilizer weapon to end the war and end the risk to human lives. Then in "Attack Of The Autobots," Megatron has...invisibility spray. Yes, with a simple spray, they can turn invisible. All they need is a little distraction and entering the Autobot base is a piece of energon-flavored cake. Once again, since they developed and still have the spray, why not use it again.
The main problem I had with this set is where it cuts off. "Quest For Survival" ends in what could be a cliffhanger. It could just be that the episode simply ends that way. On the other hand, if it is a cliffhanger, we're stuck waiting for Season Two, Volume Two. There hasn't been a release date for Volume Two yet. There also aren't any special features in this set. Season One had some. Maybe it's just a matter that there really isn't anything that could be added. Also, the main reason you'd be buying this is for the episodes.
As I mentioned, some of the episodes get a little crazy. Considering this is a cartoon from the heart of the 80s, you have to expect a good dosage of the cheese factor. That's part of the charm of this show. They don't make cartoons like this anymore. While some of the episodes seem to have lost a little of its edge over the first season, they are still enjoyable. The set retails for $29.99 but you'll easily find it for a cheaper price. The running time is 644 minutes. That's a lot of Transformer fighting. I gave the first set a 4.5. This set may lack the bells and whistles that the first season but makes up for it with the number of episodes. Transformers Season Two, Volume One gets a 4 out of 5. The stories might get a little weird but that's just what makes them that much more enjoyable.
