Sari is kidnapped and the evidence points to the Dinobots. So Prowl and Bulkhead head to a mysterious island to investigate—with a highly suspicious Captain Fanzone on their tail.
Tropes:
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Prowl says Meltdown can either go back to prison or be left at the mercy of the newly emboldened Dinobots. Meltdown is left begging Prowl to keep the Dinobots away from him.
- And This Is for...: When Prowl, Bulkhead, and Fanzone fight Meltdown's mutant creations, Fanzone declares that a punch he throws is for Sari.
- Bash Brothers: Fanzone and Prowl become this when facing off against Meltdown's mutants.
- Bathroom Breakout: Of sorts. Sari escapes by tricking Colossus Rhodes into gargling toilet water, and then locking the door behind him.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Bulkhead is pretty friendly most of the time, but Sari's kidnapping combined with the Dinobots betraying his trust sends him into a rage.
- Big Brother Instinct: The Autobots begin the episode teaching Sari self-defense, and later, when Optimus gets the call that Sari is missing, all of the Autobots race to Sumdac Systems. No one messes with their human friend.
- Book Ends: The episode begins and ends with Sari training against Bulkhead, and Bulkhead pretending to be affected by Sari's kick.
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick:Fanzone: Uh, Sumdac said [Sari] spent the day with you guys yesterday. Anything out of the ordinary happen?
Bulkhead: Just the usual stuff. Hangin' out, teaching her ninja nerve blows, watching cartoons...
Fanzone: Woah, back up! What was that?
Bulkhead: Watching cartoons?
Fanzone: No, before that.
Bulkhead: Ninja nerve blows. - Curb-Stomp Battle: Against the Dinobots, Meltdown's lackeys are no match.
- Damsel out of Distress: Sari manages to escape her captors by tricking Colossus Rhodes into taking her to the restroom and making him check the toilet so she can use her key to flood him with water and short out the pistons. She locks him the restroom afterwards and saves Prowl and Fanzone from the pit they’re trap in before reuniting with them.
- Deadly Euphemism: "Our visitors seem lost. Perhaps we should give them a hand."
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: The Autobots don't get why Fanzone sees something wrong with training Sari to fight, because it's part of every protoform's elementary programming.
- Defiant Captive: Sari doesn't seem scared during her time as Meltdown's captive, snarking at him and tricking Rhodes so she can escape. By the time Prowl and Fanzone find her, she's already broken out and was on her way to the exit.
- Didn't See That Coming: This pretty much sums up almost everyone's reaction to seeing the Dinobots transform.Fanzone: What the—
Sari: Whoa!
Bulkhead: Uh... They couldn't do that before, right? - Do Not Call Me "Paul": When Fanzone calls Meltdown by his real name, Prometheus Black, he gets mad and tells Fanzone that his name is Meltdown now.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: The Autobots, who have spent eons fighting Decepticons (both during the war and in the present day) don't understand why Fanzone has a problem with them teaching Sari self-defense. Leading to this exchange:Fanzone: You're teaching an eight-year-old to do nerve blows?Ratchet: You want her to pick it up in the street?Prowl: This is part of every protoform's elementary programming.Bulkhead: Yeah, it's not like we're having her fight Decepticons.Prowl: Yet.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Fanzone reaches an understanding with Prowl through the course of this adventure and agrees to leave the Dinobots in peace.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: While fighting off the Dinobots, Prowl notices scorch marks on Swoop's legs. Meltdown soon confirms that he abused the Dinobots into obeying him.
- From Bad to Worse: Fleeing from the Dinobots, Prowl, Bulkhead, and Fanzone find themselves cornered in a box canyon. Meltdown then announces his presence.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Fanzone incapacitates Meltdown by wrapping him up in one of his spare protective suits.
- I Control My Minions Through...: Meltdown controls the Dinobots through fear, as his touch can cause them significant pain. They stop being afraid of him after he's restrained by Fanzone.
- Internal Reveal:
- Fanzone learns that Bulkhead and Prowl helped the Dinobots escape their imprisonment.
- The others learn the Dinobots have robot modes.
- Kidnapped While Sleeping: Sari is kidnapped in the middle of the night. When Professor Sumdac goes into her room, she's nowhere to be found and the window is wide open.
- Mighty Roar: One accompanies the Dinobots transforming to robot mode.
- Not Afraid of You Anymore: "Meltdown not hurt Dinobots. Dinobots hurt Meltdown!"
- Oh, Crap!:
- This is Sari's reaction to Swoop spreading his wings.
- Later on, it's also Fanzone's reaction to seeing the Dinobots.
- Meltdown and his goons react this way, once the Dinobots turn on them.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: After Meltdown talks about forcing their compliance, the Dinobots visibly whimper. Grimlock even apologizes to the Autobots for all this.
- Papa Wolf: If you mess with Sari, the Autobots will not take it lightly.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:Fanzone: A technophobe is someone who fears technology... DOES! THIS! LOOK! LIKE FEAR TO YOU?! [smashes his phone on the ground]
- The Reveal: Meltdown was behind Sari's kidnapping.
- Sins of Our Fathers: Since he blames Professor Sumdac for ruining his life and career, Meltdown has decided to use Sari as a test subject for his experiments.
- Technophobia: Prowl calls Fanzone a “technophobe” when he yells his hatred for machines after failing to work a 1980s cell phone. He quickly proves him wrong with the above Punctuated! For! Emphasis! line, leading Prowl to awkwardly state “Ah, my mistake”.
- Tempting Fate: A rare example where the person tempting fate doesn't fall victim to it.Prowl: Watch it. Quicksand.
Bulkhead: I see it. You'd have to be a real glitch-head to get caught in that.
Fanzone: [Offscreen in the quicksand] Help! - That Man Is Dead:Fanzone: Prometheus Black?!
Meltdown: The name is Meltdown! - Trapped in Villainy: Meltdown is forcing the Dinobots into working for him.
- Two Decades Behind: Exaggerated. Captain Fanzone not only has a cell phone from the 1980s, but he can’t even get that to work.
- Villain Respect: Meltdown congratulates Prowl for figuring out the whole situation after spotting the acid burns on Swoop's leg.
- Was Once a Man: Meltdown's bat and shark mutants used to be his lawyer and stockbroker.
- We Need a Distraction: Sari attempts a flying kick and lands on the ground without making contact. Meltdown scoffs at this display, not seeing Prowl's foot coming right at him. Sari mocks him for falling for her distraction.
- You're Insane!: Captain Fanzone outright calls Meltdown a "twisted fruitcake" when the latter reveals his intentions to create a transforming human and he intends to experiment on Sari to do that. Meltdown just tells him “Flattery will get you nowhere, Captain”.
