My Review of Transformers: Animated season 3 episode 7 Predacons Rising · 3:55am Oct 4th, 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 and good evening to you all. This is Mr. J, TheClownPrinceofCrime, back with another episode review for Transformers: Animated. I will be talking about the seventh episode for season three called “Predacons Rising”... or just Wasp turning into Waspinator as the only Predacon rising up. Why name an episode called “Predacons Rising” if only one actually rises up? That makes no sense; at least Transformers: Prime Beast Hunters managed to pull it off well although it had its own narrative issues. Anyway, this episode was somewhat better than the previous one although it unfortunately left us with an unfulfilled cliffhanger due to the lack of season four. Screw Hasbro for that.
Wasp is shown running from the Autobots to escape apparent custody at the servos of the Elite Guard. Bumblebee attempts to reason with him and explain to him that he was set up by Longarm this whole time and that the latter was the real spy. Unwilling to hear him out, Wasp escapes again until he is captured by Swoop. The Dinobot delivers him to his mistress Blackarachnia who wanted Wasp for a sinister purpose. Dear Primus, writing that sentence felt so dirty and wrong. Lmao 😂
The spider lady painfully mutates him into a giant, techno-organic wasp by using an actual wasp through transwarp energy. Thus, Waspinator is born. As I already said before, Wasp would have been an emotionally compelling character if he wasn’t written as an unapologetic, colossal asshole from the very beginning. It feels completely unearned that he went this far into a corrupted phase with no turning back since he was already a selfish bully from the start.
However, there was one particular line he said that actually stood out to me but not in a good way.
Wasp...forgive Bumblebot. But Waspinator will NEVER forgive!
This in itself would have a lot more impact if he was a good character in his first episode last season. If he was written as Bumblebee’s first close friend who was mistakenly betrayed by the very one whom he called friend, this would have been a lot more believable. But because of his previous life prior to his termination from the Autobots, it has no meaning and therefore is completely pointless.
No offense to Tom Kenny who gave a terrific performance as Waspinator, but the character completely sucks due to poor writing. This is my opinion.
I have nothing to say in regards to Blackarachnia’s actions in this episode except that she clearly needed psychological and emotional help. She clearly didn’t deserve any of that. But hey, at least she was a decent Autobot before she mutated into a monster unlike Wasp.
So yeah, this episode was okay when it comes to the consistent plot, character arch, animation, and voice acting. Waspinator didn’t sit well with me, but Blackarachnia did well in her final appearance in this season. Nice callback to the Beast Wars show at the end there, writers. 👍🏼
This episode gets a C+.
Peace out and good night, everyone. 💜
I still hate Sentinel... But I can't say I don't feel sorry for him after what he learned.
5591441
Indeed.
5591443
Losing subordinates is terrible. Learning that you actually left them for dead... That's worst.
5591444
That should have moved Sentinel to stop holding a grudge against Optimus at the end, but we all know how that went later in the show.
5591447
Pride and ambitious drove him, amigo. Plus, he no doubt use Optimus as a scapegoat. I still find that whole 'Fear of Organics' thing stupid.
5591449
Yeah, and cowardice too.
5591452
Throw in greed and we have an Autobot Starscream.
Don’t mind the deleted comment, half of the text didn’t load, I’m gonna try again.
WASPINATOR, TERRORIZE!!!
1. Oh look, another of Derrick J. Wyatt’s personal favorite transformers. That’s three now, but as for the fourth, you’ll have wait and see.
2. The small, vestigial arms present on the Deluxe Waspinator toy's robot mode torso have their origin in an early design concept for Lockdown; the bounty hunter robot's character model was subsequently altered to make his appearance less monstrous, but Derrick J. Wyatt loved the concept of the vestigial arms enough to incorporate them instead into Waspinator's design.
3. The signature quote given to Waspinator on his toy packaging is "Waspinator rules!", one of several iconic catchphrases associated with the original Beast Wars incarnation of Waspinator. He uttered it in "A Better Mousetrap" and "Maximal, No More".
4. Derrick Wyatt states on his blog that this incarnation of Waspinator is inspired by his Beast Wars counterpart, but made more monstrous and buglike. Wyatt examined photographs of actual wasps, nature shows like "Life in the Undergrowth" and monster movies for inspiration. The FX studio, Audio Circus, added insectoid clicks and other background sounds for the character.
5. In technorganic mode, Wasp is capable of firing energy blasts from his vestigial arms. This is possibly the mutated version of his original stinger attack, similar to Elita-1/Blackarachnia retaining her downloading power.
6. Wasp is the only character to have shown three different bodies throughout the show (Cybertronian race car, green version of Bumblebee's car mode, and giant wasp).