"The Rebirth" part 2 Bloopers

TOTAL NUMBER OF BLOOPERS:  79

BEST LINES:

APEFACE:  "Yuck.  Noble Autobots make me wanna puke."

WORST LINES:

ULTRA MAGNUS:  "Prime, where are you going to get these answers you want?"

OPTIMUS PRIME:  "From the one who created me.  From Alpha Trion."

ULTRA MAGNUS:  "But he's in Vector Sigma, the computer which gave us all life!"

TRIVIA QUESTIONS:  

1. Why did Arcana decide to bond with Brainstorm?
2. Which of the Hive are not named in the episode?

PLOT OVERSIGHTS: (15)

• During the recap from last episode, the narrator claims that five of the Autobots were taken prisoner by the Decepticons.  Lessee...  Snapdragon collected Blurr, Sureshot and Kup; Mindwipe grabbed an apathetic Crosshairs; Apeface carried off Pointblank and Weirdwolf had Hot Rod.  That's six.
• Wait a second here.  Daniel was injured so badly in the last episode that he can't survive without a life-support machine.  So when they decide to bond Danny to Arcee, what does Spike do?  He plops his son inside the little chair inside Arcee's head, and yanks the helmet right off--the only thing supposedly keeping him alive!
• Brainstorm needs to brush up on his Decepticons.  Cyclonus says of the Autobot captives, "If any of these losers had the key, the other Autobots would be all over us by now.  Brainstorm pops out of the bushes and exclaims, "That's exactly where we are, Scourge!"
• Optimus merges with Vector Sigma in this episode so he can have a nice little chat with Alpha Trion.  Heh.  It sure is a good thing there are two copies of Alpha Trion floating around, since the version that was inside the Matrix is gone forever since Op released the energy of the Matrix in "The Return of Optimus Prime" part 2.
• Say, if Optimus can activate Vector Sigma with the Matrix, why did he spend all that time running around looking for the key in "The Key to Vector Sigma" part 2?  It's possible he didn't have the Matrix at that point, but dialogue from "Five Faces of Darkness" part 4 suggests he acquired the Matrix when he was rebuilt from Orion Pax.
• Also, once Prime finished his chat with Alpha Trion and re-enters his body... he runs off without bothering to grab the Matrix!¹
• If the Hive can control machines with their very thoughts, then why are they trying to strike a deal with the Decepticons?  Why not just use their mental powers to take control of them?
• Alpha Trion's definition of plasma energy is less than satisfactory to me.  He explains that "it seeks out any entity that transforms matter into energy and overloads them totally."  He then goes on to say that organic life is unaffected.  Why?  Humans eat food, which is transformed into energy.  
• One wonders how the Quintessons ever used this plasma energy chamber.  They appear at least partly robotic, if not entirely.  Wouldn't they overload every time they fired that baby up?
• As I said of the Autobots, isn't it a nifty coinkeedink that the new Decepticons who ended up becoming Targetmasters just happen to be named Misfire, Triggerhappy, and Slugslinger?
• Misfire qualifies for the highly coveted Optimus Prime Non Sequitur Award in this episode.  The Hive member who was engineered to become his weapon steps forth and proclaims, "I live only to destroy our mutual enemies, mwu ha ha!" and transforms, blasting everywhere.  Misfire picks him up and says, "I think the name 'Aimless' suits ya better!"  Suits him better than what?  Does Misfire genuinely believe this guy was introducing himself as I, Live Only To Destroy Our Mutual Enemies?  Pul-leaze.
• When the Decepticon Targetmasters launch their first attack, they throw their guns into the air, which transform into the Hive exo-suits.  Isn't that immensely daft?  That leaves the Decepticons without any form of offense!  (My friend Trish pointed this one out.)
• Even if Arcana knew who Nightstick was, how does he recognize him in his new body?
• After the Decepticons escape with the key, Chromedome says, "We've got to follow them!"  (At least, I assume it's Chromedome.  See Dialogue and Sound Effects below.)  Spike replies, "Forget it.  They can fly, and you guys can't."  Oh, really?  Highbrow turns into a helicopter and Brainstorm turns into a jet.  They can fly, right?  And what about Blurr?
• In the fifth season rehash of this episode, Powermaster Optimus Prime as narrator makes a slip-up.  In the preview for part 3, he says the plasma energy chamber "unleashes energy so powerful, it causes the Sun to go nova."  If the Sun did  go nova, it would destroy Earth and Cybertron in a cataclysmic eruption... end of show!

DIALOGUE AND SOUND EFFECTS: (12)

• When Gort asks Stylor which Autobot he wants to bond with, Stylor's voice is Transformer-amplified when he says, "I'll take Chromedome."
• Hardhead's mouth doesn't open when he guffaws, right before he says, "Hey, Duros!  Welcome to the club!"
• After Punch report that there's no sign of Hot Rod's crew, Cloudraker chimes in, "Or the key to the plasma energy chamber!" but both Fastlane and Cloudraker's mouths are moving.
• The first time Zarak speaks to the Decepticons, not only does his voice echo, but it's Transformer-amplified.
• When the Vector Sigma-bound Alpha Trion is foretelling events to come on Nebulos, Optimus says, "How do you know this, Alpha Trion?" and his face plate doesn't move.
• This isn't really a blooper, but Krunk sure sounds an awful lot like Starscream, doesn't he?
• When the Decepticons fly away after retrieving the key, Cyclonus transforms without the accompanying sound effect.
• After the Decepticons fly off, Spike points out that the Autobots can't fly after them.  Chromedome, off-camera, says, "But the key!"  A second later, Pointblank mouths the words.  Bad ventriloquism.  (At least, I assume it's Chromedome's voice.  I suppose it could be Pinpointer, but in that case he's incorrectly Transformer-amplified.)
• Taking his cue from Kup to introduce his Nebulon partner, Blurr chimes in, "That's not all by a longshot, not by a longshot, no sir!"  Er...  Not all by a longshot?
• After Optimus arrives on Nebulos and is brought up to speed, Brainstorm notes, "And we're all Headmasters now, Prime!"  The way he emphasizes it makes it sound like every Autobot on Nebulos was a cranial amputee, not just the five.²
• While the Decepticons are waiting around for Zarak, the Autobots show up, and Cyclonus orders, "Eenihiliate them!"  Eenihilate?
• As Scorponok surfaces for the first time, Vorath exclaims, "Zarak did it !" but both Vorath and Grax are moving their mouths.

ANIMATION AND CONTINUITY: (53)

• When Arcee concurs with Danny that it feels like they're a part of each other... she blinks.  Just thought I'd mention it.
• As Brainstorm is backing away from one of the Hive machines, the cylindrical component on his neck is orange instead of green.
• After Punch and the clones report to Prime, Punch's helmet is grey instead of black.
• When the Decepticons are interrogating the Autobots on Nebulos, Snapdragon seems to be missing from the group, and Slugslinger is colored like Weirdwolf--never mind the fact that Weirdwolf is right next to him, in wolf mode.
• In this episode, Scourge, Cyclonus, Hot Rod, Kup and Blurr all seem to have reverted to their alternate "toy" designs.  Look for the extra detailing on Scourge and Blurr, the different belt and lack of bags under the eyes on Kup, and of course Cyclonus's radically different look.
• When Blurr is being interrogated, he's got some abnormally huge lips, which are also transparent--his lower lips passes right through the component on his chin when he talks.
• When Kup is being tortured, the clamps on his wrists that are supposedly pulling him apart... aren't attached to anything!
• When Apeface utters his comments on the Autobots' nobility, his head is white with a red lower jaw.  It should be purple with red eyes, and black panels on either side of his forehead.
• Er...  When the Nebulons first climbed into the Autobots' heads, there was plenty of room and the heads seemed to function like cockpits.  But somehow the heads transform into humanoid exo-suits?  I'm guessing the suits aren't form-fitting; there's no way they could be.  Watch as Hardhead's head transforms into Duros.  First it splits in half to form the chest and pelvis.  Then the upper arms pop out of the shoulders, and the forearms slide out from behind his back to connect at the elbows.  All I can say is... ouch!
•  Arcee's head seems to do the exact opposite--the exo-suit is larger than her head is.  And isn't it interesting that her head transforms into an exact replica of the exo-suit Danny used in the movie?  (Of course, no Arcee toy existed--Headmaster or otherwise--when this episode was produced, so they had to take the exo-suit design from somewhere.)
• When the Hive is watching the Decepticons' first battle with the Autobot Headmasters, Cyclonus is on one of their monitors, and he's not doing anything.  He's just... standing there.  Guess he's in shock.
• In the scene where Optimus inserts the Matrix into Vector Sigma, the components on Magnus's chest are red instead of blue.
• Scourge's head is sticking up in vehicle mode again when he transforms to escape.
• Cyclonus has his normal "movie" design briefly as he prepares to catch Scourge after he's blasted out of the sky by Chromedome.
• As the Hive machines reach for the Decepticons, Triggerhappy is colored like Kup.
• And when the 'Cons are plopped onto the Hive conveyor belt, in the background you can see... Scorponok, in city mode, complete with Decepticon symbol!
• When the 'Cons fall off the edge of the conveyor belt, Cyclonus is back to his "movie" design.  Also, Skullcruncher and Snapdragon are missing from the crowd that the Hive captured.
• You know, for a guy whose body has supposedly withered away into uselessness, Zarak sure is on muscular-looking dude.
• Right before the first commercial, when Zarak is making his offer to the Decepticons, his eyebrows are dark grey instead of white.
• When Cyclonus proposes that the Hive only turn the animal Decepticons into Headmasters, Snapdragon and Skullcruncher have graciously rejoined the group, except Skully's colored like Apeface.
• Remember Arblus, that guy in the movie who was hanging out with Kranix when Unicron attacked?  There's a Hive member on Zarak's left who looks suspiciously like him. So much for Kranix being the last survivor of Lithone!
• I guess Skullcruncher wasn't listening when Cyclonus said the animals would still have to remove their heads.  When the others take their heads off, Skully's just standing there.  Triggerhappy apparently didn't listen either, because he's standing there without a head!  Also, in this scene, Snapdragon's disappeared again.
• In one of the close-ups of Alpha Trion from within Vector Sigma, he's got nostrils.  Just thought I'd mention it...
• When the Hive's new bodies are all lined up, I can identify, from right to left:  Monzo, Nightstick, Aimless, Blowpipe, Caliburst... and--at the same height--Triggerhappy, Misfire, and Slugslinger!
• When Nightstick leaps into the air, he transforms into a grey and black gun.  But when Cyclonus is holding him in the next scene, he's entirely purple.
• When Aimless introduces himself, Misfire's eyes are blue, but in the scene where Misfire is holding him, he's got red eyes.  Also in the blue-eyed scene, Misfire's Decepticon symbol is red, and Triggerhappy's is missing entirely.
• Blowpipe is different colors in this episode than he was when he appears in the fourth season title sequence.  In this episode, his body is blue and his legs are grey.  In the theme song, his upper body, forearms, and lower legs are blue while his upper arms, fists, and feet are grey.
• When Triggerhappy starts blasting away after recovering Blowpipe, the twin guns on his shoulders are light blue instead of orange.  
• On the whole, the Hive seems to have left something fairly fundamental out of the Decepticons' gun designs... handles!
• The scene where Apeface and Snapdragon meet Spasma and Krunk has always bothered me.  For the toys, Spasma and Krunk transformed into both the robot heads and the animal heads.  When Spasma transforms for the first time in the episode, you can even see the monkey face sticking out of the back of Apeface's robot head--complete with teeth.  And yet, Apeface and Snapdragon are both in their animal modes, talking to their Hive partners.
• The dude in black and magenta who says, "At last, we have real bodies!" is Vorath, soon to be Mindwipe's partner.  But the guy Mindwipe ends up hypnotizing... is Monzo, Weirdwolf's partner!  Oops!  Skullcruncher transforms and bonds with Grax in this scene, too.  Next, we hear Grax say, "I am to be bonded to that creature?  This project was a bad investment!" only they drew Vorath, colored like Monzo!  And the "creature" he refers to is... Skullcruncher, colored like Weirdwolf!  Finally, in the following scene, Weirdwolf transforms and combines with Monzo.
• Cyclonus orders, "Decepticon Headmasters, destroy!" and Skullcruncher's, Mindwipe's, and Weirdwolf's heads all pop off.  As the Headmasters transform, another  Weirdwolf head appears to come from behind Mindwipe, and transforms into Monzo.  I don't get it...
• When Crosshairs and Chromedome are shooting at the Decepticons, Crosshairs has a gun that's identical to Chromedome's.  I guess Chromedome lend him one of his, since Crosshairs dropped his when he was captured in part 1.  After Apeface and Snapdragon transform to jet mode and the Autobots run away, Crosshairs's gun is suddenly grey instead of red. 
• When Misfire is yelling, "Can't you hit anything, Aimless?" his eyes are blue again.  I honestly have no idea what color they're supposed to be!  (I'm tempted to say red, since he's a Decepticon, but Crosshairs's eyes are red, and he's an Autobot...)
• When Brainstorm turns away from Mindwipe's gaze and fires on him, his face is light grey instead of orange.
• When Scourge is holding Fracas in gun mode while arguing with him, Fracas clearly has a gun handle (and he's entirely black).  But when Fracas jumps out of Scourge's hand (and is partly grey), the handle is missing.  Is it retractable?  Now there's  a convenient Hive addition I bet the Decepticons hadn't counted on!
• When the Decepticons escape with the key, only nine of them fly away.  There should be ten.
• After they escape, Chromedome wants to go after them.  At this point, Highbrow points out that the Decepticons can't get off the planet any more than the Autobots can, pointing his gun at Pointblank.  Why Pointblank, who isn't even part of this conversation... and why point his gun at anybody at all?  Also in this scene, Pointblank's face is black instead of white.  Also, Highbrow's missing his Autobot symbol.
• When Hardhead introduces Optimus to the Headmasters and Targetmasters, Sureshot's initially missing from the group.  And in his place is... one of the Autobot clones!
• When Blurr is holding his weapon, it's blue, and appears to be of his original weapon design.  But when it transforms into Haywire, it's suddenly a different design, and it's grey and black.
• Before Spoilsport transforms, he wasn't in Sureshot's hand--he just sorta pops out from behind Sureshot's legs.
• Also, both Pinpointer and Firebolt are in their humanoid modes when they introduce themselves, but they weren't standing there in the above scene.  Also, in Firebolt;s introductory scene, Hot Rod is behind him and his lower legs are purple instead of grey.
• When Brainstorm and the others transform to demonstrate to Optimus their new Headmaster forms, for some reason Arcee doesn't transform with them.
• In the scene where Hot Rod explains that the Decepticons also have Headmasters and Targetmasters, the drawing is a direct lift from his "toy" design character model.  Just compare the scene with the drawing from his TRANSFORMERS UNIVERSE profile in issue #4.  
• In the scene where Grax is telling the impatient Scourge, "You will wait; Zarak's modifications are nearly finished," the Hive are the same height as Scourge.  They should be much smaller.
• When the Autobots arrive while the Decepticons are waiting around for Zarak, the orange fellow in the back appears to be... Wheelie!
• As Scourge is disputing Brainstorm's challenge, Scourge's lips are dark grey like his beard and moustache instead of light grey.
• After Cyclonus orders the Decepticons to "eenihilate them," Misfire's eyes are blue again when he tosses his gun into the air.  But after the Autobot Targetmasters transform and Misfire says, "I think we're in trouble!" his eyes are red.  (Should I even mention that his eyes are blue again when Scorponok begins to surface?)
• When Hot Rod, Kup, and Blurr transform to vehicle mode, their Targetmaster weapons aren't in evidence anywhere on their person.  (Or on their robot.)  Blurr's firing from the thingy on the top of his vehicle mode (the one that's on his head in robot mode); Hot Rod appears to be shooting from his engine, and Kup isn't firing at all.  
• When the Decepticon Targetmasters are dodging the Autobots' blasts, Cyclonus once again has his "movie" design.
• When Arcee grabs the key from Scourge, it looks like he's got a chest compartment again like the one he had in "The Burden Hardest to Bear."  Didn't we just see last episode that his chest component opens to reveal circuitry?
• As the Autobots encircle Optimus and Arcee, only Crosshairs and Sureshot seem to have Targetmaster weapons mounted on their vehicle modes.
• Right before Scorponok transforms, Hot Rod and Kup are suddenly in robot mode as they flee with Arcee and Prime.

TRIVIA ANSWERS:

1. Arcana found the Autobot's youthful ideas "most refreshing."
2. Grax, Monzo, and Vorath (Monzo is referred to by name in part 3).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

¹Parallax

²Ratbat

©1999 Inspiration Studios