Recap / Transformers: Animated, S2E9: Autoboot Camp

On the trail of an escaped Autobot traitor, Bumblebee flashes back to a previous encounter with the traitor when he first met Bulkhead in Autobot Boot Camp.

Tropes:

• Adults Are Useless: Subverted. Telling Sentinel about the spy the moment Bumblebee learned about it probably would've been the better choice, even if Sentinel would've taken all the credit. After all, talking about it with Longarm first (who turns out to be the real Decepticon traitor) leads to him planting incriminating evidence in Wasp's locker.
• An Aesop:
  • If you see suspicious activity or notice that something is wrong, tell a trusted adult. Don't try to be a hero and handle the situation yourself — everyone's safety is more important than one's fame.
  • Your friends/co-workers aren't always the most reliable source for advice.
  • Don't put down others for being different to build yourself up.
• Batman Cold Open: The episode begins with Wasp escaping prison and being pursued by Sentinel.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Longarm, alias Shockwave, is this to Bumblebee. He's the only bot in the camp besides Bulkhead to treat the young bot with respect, and gives him advice on how to root out the possible Decepticon spy. Of course, seeing as he is the spy, he counts as this trope.
• Bittersweet Ending: Bumblebee lets himself be booted out of camp so that Bulkhead can become a space bridge technician, and Shockwave has successfully tricked him and everyone else into believing that Wasp was the traitor while he becomes the head of Autobot Intelligence. On the other hand, the only thing that keeps this episode from being a full-on Downer Ending is that the events of the flashback are why Bumblebee and Bulkhead are friends & serve Team Optimus now.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Bumblebee glances at the audience while commenting on the size of Sentinel's chin.
• Butt-Monkey: Bulkhead and Bumblebee for their blunders. Sentinel Prime also qualifies for being on the receiving end of said blunders.
• Call-Back:
  • In "The Elite Guard", Bulkhead commented to Bumblebee that Sentinel didn’t recognize them, to which Bumblebee replied that he's glad for that.
  • In "Mission Accomplished", Megatron mentioned that he had a double agent on Cybertron.
• Call-Forward: The episode explains Bulkhead and Bumblebee's exchange about already knowing Sentinel and why Bumblebee doesn't want him to remember them.
• Canon Character All Along: Longarm turns out to be Shockwave in disguise.
• The Chew Toy: Sentinel finds himself on the receiving end of Bulkhead and Bumblebee's blunders. As a reprisal, he makes the entire class do transform-ups every time they do something screw-y.
• Continuity Nod:
  • While Bumblebee complains about monitor duty at the beginning, Bulkhead says that at least it isn't space barnacles.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Sentinel was a drill sergeant before he became an Elite Guard member.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: Before Longarm is revealed to be the true Decepticon spy, the audience is treated to a scene of Wasp hiding out near a space bridge. Rather than act like a spy who can return to to his master Megatron, his neurotic behavior and Gollum-like speech pattern implies he's not the real spy. Also, there's this line that reveals his previous claims he wasn't a traitor may have been genuine after all:
  Wasp: Bumble-bot not hide from Wasp. Wasp swear he find Bumble-bot. Wasp make Bumble-bot pay for ruining Wasp's life!
• Flashback Episode: Most of the episode depicts how Bumblebee and Bulkhead met at boot camp (and also how they ended up as part of Optimus' crew).
• Foreshadowing:
  • Longarm is foreshadowed to be a False Friend and obviously suspicious. When Bumblebee calls him over for help, he initially dismisses him and only pays attention when Bumblebee reveals that he's discovered a spy. He also goes out of his way to act like Bumblebee's friend afterwords, such as helping him out of the closet Wasp and Ironhide stuffed him in, and being the one to cause Bumblebee to reveal Wasp as the spy.
  • Bulkhead's desire to be a space bridge technician hints at the season finale's reveal that he is the galaxy's foremost expert on space bridges.
  • Whenever the Decepticon spy shows up, his shadow is a lot bigger than Wasp's. Pay close attention, and the shape bears close resemblance to Longarm, hinting at who's really the traitor.
• Frame-Up: Wasp is framed by Longarm as the Decepticon spy.
• Gilligan Cut: In the flashback, Sentinel is about to punish Bulkhead for an earlier incident, only for Bumblebee to take the blame in hopes it will make Bulkhead's punishment all that more lenient. There's a pause from Sentinel before Bumblebee meekly hopes in vain his commander won't take it too personally. Unsurprisingly, this cuts to a space bridge out in the middle of nowhere, where Bulkhead is at least elated he gets to work with space bridges, while Bumblebee wilts at how his integrity cost him a spot in the Elite Guard.
• Insignia Rip-Off Ritual: Sentinel rips the Autobot insignia off of Wasp's chest after the latter gets (wrongly) ousted as a Decepticon spy.
• Ironic Echo: Sentinel repeats the speech Optimus would give in the first episode about "cogs in a machine." Unsurprisingly, Sentinel is much more obnoxious about it, highlighting that at least Optimus made an effort to make it motivating.
• Jerkass:
  • Wasp is one through and through immediately upon meeting Bumblebee.
  • Ironhide is also shown to be one, though his depiction in the present shows he grew out of it.
  • Sentinel Prime, as always.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • Shockwave/Longarm was right that Sentinel would've taken all the credit if Bumblebee had told him about the Decepticon spy in the first place, but overall, telling him would've been the best choice of action for the sake of the Autobots. But then again, if Bumblebee fell for the Frame-Up, then maybe the results would've been the same anyway under Sentinel.
  • Likewise, Sentinel is...well, a massive jerk, but he's right that Bumblebee is far too egotistical and reckless to be a proper elite guard cadet, especially since his constant blundering and screw-ups are making things far too difficult for both him and the Elite Guard cadets as a whole. Sure, Bumblebee would get better down the line, but that took experiences he never would have gotten under Sentinel.
• Kick the Dog: After the training session, Sentinel flunks Bulkhead solely because he wants to get back at someone for blowing up a building onto him and Bulkhead is the worst student in the class. The latter reason would be justifiable if we'd seen how he was the worst student other than just being dumb.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Longarm, for his Extendable Arms (and legs).
  • Ironhide/Armorhide, for his iron hide/armor.
  • Wasp, for his precise stinging.
  • Bumblebee, for being a screw-up, or in other words, a bumbler.
  • Bulkhead, for being "all bulk, no brain".
• The Mole: While he's still Megatron's prisoner, Sumdac is able to change the frequency of Megatron's video message with his spy so that the Autobots can pick up a garbled version of it. It's implied that no one ever learns that Sumdac was the one who changed the frequency.
• Mythology Gag: Wasp is based off of Waspinator from Beast Wars. After spending time in the stockade, Wasp acts a lot more like Waspinator, bringing the resemblance closer.
• Nice Guy: Even though he was constantly put down by Sentinel and the other cadets (even Bumblebee), Bulkhead was unapologetic about being kind or having lower aspirations than the others. He even apologized to Bumblebee when he realized that he didn't appreciate jokes being made about his size. This is what ultimately led to Bumblebee sticking up for him, and is why they became such good friends.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Bumblebee is guilty of sending a jerkass, but still innocent bot to the stocks on two levels. First, it was Bumblebee jumping to conclusions that led to the unjust arrest. Second, by coming to Longarm (who is the real traitor) with news of a spy instead of a reliable adult (even Sentinel), he enabled a real Decepticon spy to stay on Cybertron for a few additional decades.
• Pet the Dog: Sentinel tells Bumblebee that he's done a good job catching the Decepticon spy and offers to give him a different name. The latter is somewhat mitigated in that he forgot what it was.
• Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: One too many putdowns from Bumblebee causes Bulkhead to walk away from helping him investigate Megatron's signal. It becomes subverted, however, as Bulkhead finds his friendship with Bumblebee is too solid to break. To his credit, 'Bee apologizes the second he sees Bulkhead again, having recognized that he treated him badly.
• Police Are Useless: Deconstructed. Evidently, the Autobots never bothered conducting a thorough investigation on whether or not Wasp was actually a Decepticon spy, given that the only thing they had proving it was that he had a Decepticon commlink in his locker, which could've been snuck in there as a Frame-Up. In about fifty years, Wasp is driven insane from jailtime and presumably also torture. Though given Shockwave later becomes an Autobot Intelligence officer, it can be assumed that he managed to create more false evidence to make it look convincing, possibly justifying this.
• The Power of Friendship: Bulkhead is the one 'bot to stick by Bumblebee the entire time.
• Pragmatic Villainy: After Wasp and Ironhide remove Bumblebee's legs and shove him in a broom closet as a mean prank, Longarm/Shockwave helps him out, reattaches his legs, and tells him not to give up. This would be a very sweet moment if not for the fact that Longarm/Shockwave was clearly doing this to avoid being put on Bumblebee's list of suspects.
• Properly Paranoid: At the beginning, the spy expresses worry to Megatron that their transmission might be picked up. Megatron assures him that it has been scrambled enough that the Autobots can't trace it... and then Professor Sumdac secretly sends part of the feed to Team Prime's base.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Played with. A present-day Wasp has eyes that are more a pinkish hue than the standard Decepticon Red, if only to indicate he's shown his Decepticon spy nature. Later, it's subverted: it's all a Red Herring to make Wasp look like the spy to the audience. In reality, Wasp was innocent of those charges, and one can assume his pink-hued eyes indicate his insanity, not his guilt.
• The Reveal: Wasp wasn't the Decepticon spy, Longarm is; in addition, "Longarm" is merely an alias adopted by Shockwave, the Decepticon's true identity.
• Revenge: Wasp vows this against Bumblebee both when he's taken away by Cliffjumper and later when he's cowering by the space bridge.
  Wasp: I'll get you, Bumblebee, if it's the last thing I do!
• The Rival: Wasp to Bumblebee.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Wasp states to Bumblebee that even with skills (that he might add, a department that Bumblebee is lacking in), one needs connections to succeed. This ties into Longarm advising Bumblebee to expose the spy himself to boost his own reputation.
• Self-Deprecation: Sentinel and then Bumblebee commenting on the chin aesthetic of the show.
• Third-Person Person: Wasp averts it during the flashbacks, but by the present, his time in the stockade has broken his mind and left him doing this.
• Unwitting Pawn: Bumblebee to Longarm/Shockwave.
• Wham Line: "Well done, my loyal servant... Shockwave!"
• Wham Shot: The final scene has a twofer. Megatron's secret agent is revealed to be Longarm, which is then followed by Longarm revealing his true identity.
• Whole Episode Flashback: The scouting mission that Bumblebee and Bulkhead are on is the B-plot, framed behind the more prominent flashbacks to their time at boot camp.