You sure have trouble hanging onto your partners, don't you? We both know what happened to Tailgate. But I recently picked up some Decepticon radio chatter regarding the passing of Cliffjumper! At some point, you really have to ask yourself, Arcee — "Is it them, or is it me?"
Airachnid
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Situation: A flashback shows Airachnid interrogating Arcee in finding out attack coordinates from the Autobots. She then takes it a step further when she kills Arcee's partner Tailgate, even though Arcee swore she doesn't know. Due to Airachnid's sadistic streak, a question comes to mind if she either didn't believe Arcee, or doesn't care and just wanted to see the latter crack.
- And Your Little Dog, Too!: Airachnid sees how attached Arcee is to the human Jack, and decides to hunt him down before finishing the Autobot off. When they both destroy her ship and not only leave her stranded, but also destroy her trophies, she makes this goal very personal.
- Badass Normal: Jack forever asserts his status here by blowing up Airachnid's ship.
With camping tools. - Big Damn Heroes:
- During the flashback, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper arrive to save Arcee from Airachnid.
- Arcee rams into Airachnid before an unaware camper gets attacked. She later arrives in time to save Jack from Airachnid.
- Bittersweet Ending: Arcee and Jack solidify their bond as partners, but Airachnid is stuck on Earth and will be back.
- Bottle Episode: Arguably, since it features exactly three voice actors and only a small handful of scenes set outside the forest.
- Call-Forward: Tailgate not only shares his VA with Jack, but he has the same appearance as Cliffjumper, giving him similarities to both of Arcee’s partners in the present.
- Cell Phones Are Useless: Justified. Arcee's comlink stops working while in the vicinity of Airachnid's ship, leaving her unable to call base for back-up. Even a good drive away, she finds her comlink still not working. It's not until after the ship is blown up that Arcee is avle to contact base again.
- Chekhov's Gun: Jack's survival kit plays a big role here.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The Autobots are shown as all having blue eyes, while the Decepticons have red eyes (with a few exceptions, like Breakdown (yellow eyes) and Soundwave (no eyes)). Airachnid has purple eyes; she isn't aligned with the Autobots or the Decepticons. She only does what she wants, which just so happens to be hunting innocent life forms for pleasure.
- Cue the Sun: At the end of the episode.
- Darker and Edgier: The last episode was about Jack, Arcee, and Bumblebee entering the world of street-racing while standing up to a bully. This episode is about Arcee's PTSD from the war and the (sort-of) Decepticon Airachnid hunting down Jack to make him into a trophy.
- Dead Guy on Display/Off with His Head!: What Airachnid plans to do with Jack.
- Dead Partner: Another one for Arcee, in Tailgate.
- Did You Just Blow Airachnid's Ship Sky High?: Jack destroys Airachnid's setting fire to leaking Energon, while she was still chasing him.
- Disease by Any Other Name: It isn't stated in the episode, but Arcee appears to have PTSD from being captured by Airachnid and watching Tailgate be murdered. She has flashbacks throughout the episode, especially when she sees triggers like Airachnid's acid or the inside of her ship. After seeing the latter, she's shaking to the point that she looks like she's about to pass out.
- "Eureka!" Moment:
- While webbed up, Arcee laments the danger that Jack is in and says she should've just kept driving. She realizes mid-sentence that she can use her vehicle mode to break free of the webbing.
- Jack when he spots the energon leaking from Airachnid's ship and how that can be useful.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Averted. In the flashback, Airachnid picks up on how Arcee is the type who will endure personal suffering but crack over a good friend being endangered. She then has the battered Tailgate brought in and executed an attempt to break her spirit before she deals with her. Arachnid succeed halfway before backup arrives.
- Eyes Never Lie: Why Jack doesn't believe Arcee claiming to consider him a liability and not a partner.
- Faux Affably Evil: Airachnid keeps a coy persona on the whole time she's hunting Jack. When he gets into her spaceship's trophy room, she mockingly scolds him like he spoiled a surprise party.
- Gory Discretion Shot: When Airachnid delivers the killing blow, all we see is Tailgate's mech-fluid hitting the nearby wall.
- Heroic BSoD: Arcee breifly has this while Airachnid chases after Jack. She brushes off this feeling of helplessness before trying to break out of the Decepticon's webbing.
- History Repeats: Airachnid remembers killing Arcee's older partner Tailgate, and reveals she overheard the Decepticons talk about the death of her previous partner Cliffjumper. Having seen how much attached Arcee is to Jack, she hopes to invoke this once more while Arcee rushes to defy it.Airachnid: At some point, you really have to ask yourself, Arcee: "Is it them? Or is it me?"
- Kick the Dog: Having heard the news over Decepticon radio, Airachnid takes the opportunity to mock Arcee about Cliffjumper's death.Airachnid: You sure have trouble hanging onto your partners, don't you?
- Let's Get Dangerous!: A villainous example. Once her ship has been destroyed, Airachnid stops playing with Jack and traps him with the intent of killing him on the spot. Fortunately, Arcee comes just in time.
- Male Gaze: We get some shots of Arcee and Airachnid's rear ends when they confront each other.
- Minimalist Cast: The only major characters who appear in this episode are Arcee, Jack, Airachnid, and Tailgate (via flashbacks) with Bumblebee and Cliffjumper only making a very minor appearance in one of Arcee's flashbacks.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Jack refusing to hang back and insisting on helping Arcee lands him in the crosshairs of a sadistic hunter.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Arcee subjects Airachnid to one before Jack can be killed. It's enough to prompt Airachnid to just tunnel away.
- Oh, Crap!: Jack gets this reaction when Arcee tells him this:"Do you get it now, Jack? She's not interested in me, she hunts indigenous species! And she's on Earth! That means humans! You!"
- Airachnid gets it herself when she finds that Jack has basically set off a reaction to blow up her ship.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Arcee is usually the calm, snarky type, even against Megatron and other Decepticons. She drops the attitude when she learns who owns the crashed Decepticon ship due to her tragic past.
- Sadist: Airachnid openly delights at the prospect of viciously killing a restrained Autobot and hunting down an unarmed human. She also very much enjoyed the torture she inflicted on Arcee and Tailgate.
- Say My Name: Arcee, and later Airachnid, to Jack. Then Arcee to Airachnid.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Upon learning exactly who she’s dealing with, Arcee immediately requests for a Ground Bridge.
- Shout-Out: The title (and this page’s image caption) serve as one to Predator, with Airachnid’s motives (as detailed in Oh, Crap!) being nearly identical to the Yatuja’s, minus the honor system.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Arcee after inspecting the ship because she knows who it belongs to.
- This Means War!: Airachnid was initially quite Faux Affably Evil when mocking Arcee and hunting Jack, seeing it all as a big game for her own amusement. After Jack manages to destroy her ship, she intends to kill him as messily as possible.
- Trophy Room: In Airachnid's ship.
- Troubled Backstory Flashback: We see Arcee’s past experiences with Airachnid through this.
- Villain Ball: Airachnid webs Arcee up but passes on killing her for the moment, feeling that knowing about Jack's suffering will be the greater torment. It gives Arcee the time to break free. She also could've quite easily mowed Jack down from the start, but she enjoyed the thrill of the chase too much. It leads to her ship's destruction, marooning her on Earth.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: As Arcee pulls the webbing off Jack, Airachnid tunnels away.Arcee: So much for closure.
- Villain Respect: In one of the flashbacks, Airachnid admits that Arcee withstanding all the torture is actually fairly impressive.
- We Meet Again: Airachnid after getting tackled.Airachnid: Arcee. Small universe.
Arcee: Too small, Airachnid.
