My Review of Transformers: Animated season 3 episode 4 Three’s a Crowd · 11:42pm Sep 12th, 2021
Grading Scale:
A (fantastic episode)
A- (an excellent episode with at least one flaw)
B+ (a great episode with a couple of flaws)
B (a good episode which still could have been better)
B- (a good episode with numerous flaws but still rewatchable)
C+ (a decent episode)
C (eh... it’s not terrible but not good either)
C- (it’s not worth rewatching although it does have good elements)
D+ (a bad episode with a few good things in it)
D (a really bad episode with wasted potential)
D- (a terrible episode with badly written characters and butchered moral)
F (horrible and unwatchable)
Greetings to you all! This is Mr. J with more Transformers: Animated content! This time, I will talk about what I enjoyed out of episode 4 of season 3 “Three’s a Crowd”. In my opinion, this was a really enjoyable episode as it finally immerses itself into solo character building and development of the story. It focuses particularly on Bulkhead as we see him and Issac Sumdac gather the remains of the destroyed Headmaster Unit. After a series of back-and-forths and bickering, Bulkhead reunites with his old former friends Mixmaster and Scrapper.
I am sad to say this was the last time we see the Constructicons together in an episode. This will be explained more later. Anyway, after Bulkhead convinces them to help get back the needed materials that fell down, the trio ends up seeing a new Constructicon (which is a combination of the AllSpark fragment, a forklift, and the Headmaster Unit) by the name of Dirt Boss.
To be honest, this guy is one of my least favorite characters in this entire show. In fact, I don’t really like any version of the namesake in any other show of the franchise that much, but that is not to say that I actually downright hate him in general. This version of the character was very annoying to listen to and was nothing more than a colossal dick who had no reason to exist than to be a bossy figurehead. Nonetheless, I did like John Mariano’s voice performance of the character.
As for Bulkhead, I again enjoyed seeing him progress as a character as we see him stand up for himself and no longer try to be someone whom he is not just for the sake of pleasing Dirt Boss and fitting with the crowd. Thus, this is the last time we see him with the Constructicons on screen in this show. They were going to appear again in season 4, but Hasbro had to ruin all the fun. Ughhh!
Overall, this was a really fun episode although it could have been much better. Dirt Boss (as a whole) is one of those characters that has so much potential, but this version of him isn’t my cup of tea. He never really stood out to me. I did enjoy the subplot of Optimus and the others fending off Lugnut as well as the humorous parts that centered around them. That was a laugh. I give it a solid B.
Peace out.
I hated Dirt Boss, too. That voice was annoying.
It’s time for trivia…and to air my grievances. First comes the trivia.
1. Well, it took a while, but anime fans can at last point to an honest-to-gosh reference to the anime Gurren Lagann in Animated: As confirmed by Derrick J. Wyatt over his Twitter feed, Dirt Boss is designed in homage to the small Lagann mecha from the show. Why do I bring this up? Because many a fan speculated that Mr. Wyatt based the Headmaster unit on the mechs from Gurren Lagann. However, Wyatt stated that the anime series did not have any influence on the design of Headmaster's head-robot, as Wyatt had not seen the series till most of the first season of Animated was complete. He expressed regret, as in retrospect, he'd have liked to include some of the Gurren Lagann design elements. He did eventually with Dirt Boss.
2. Despite having just been created, Dirt Boss manages to have a Decepticon insignia without Megatron's influence. Coincidently, the Forklift he was created from was colored in the same colors as Mixmaster and Scrapper after their induction into the Decepticons.
3. Dirt Boss can fire shells from his forehead to control other robots? Sounds familiar...(*cough*G1 Bombshell *cough*)
4. Check links 1 and 6. 6 is how Dirt Boss transforms, and it’s quite surprising.
Now, with all the nice words out of the way, I’d like to file an informal FUCK YOU to Dirt Boss. Where do I even fucking begin? Let’s start with something interesting. His voice. In case you didn’t know, I have a bit of a soft spot for the mobster voice. Dirt Boss has the voice and combines that with the stern foreman stereotype. So… why don’t I like him? Three reasons really. First, he’s a tad bit too much of an ass hat. Not to mention, the first thing he does when shows up is establish a new pecking order with himself at the top. Secondly, this diminutive little douchebag of a bastard not only took my hopes of Mixmaster and Scrapper becoming Autobots and breaking the Constructicon mold, but shot those hopes in the face with a shit eating grin and a Transformer equivalent of a stogie in his mouth all on his own. And lastly, while it’s not his fault, Dirt Boss brings an unfulfilled promise to the table in the form of Devastator. While I may not be the biggest fan of Devastator,(that honor goes to Bruticus), I still would have loved to have seen Devastator in Animated, as well as Constructicon toys,(This is the closest we’ll ever get. YouTube BadLamprey for more).Damn you Hasbro. Just because the movie toy line is doing amazing doesn’t mean that you had to cancel Animated.
Why do you think I like this video? Skip to 1:16 The artist who made these Constructicon designs is an amazing person. They name on Deviantart was Grinwise,(they deleted the account), and the designs look so good that on first glance you’d think that they were legit.
Btw, with the way Mixmaster and Scrapper were acting at the manufacturing plant, I’m honestly surprised they weren’t snorting thin lines of metal shavings through a copper pipe while they were getting their striptease.