So… this episode. This is what I’ve been waiting for. I enjoyed the entire episode and was so mad that I have to WAIT for the next one. Gosh!

Spoilers behind the cut. I added handy bold for when I change subjects. :)

Edit: some of my bold just isn’t working… :( Sorry, guys!

So lets talk about Smokescreen…

I really like this guy. I really, really like him. I was really unsure at first. And, like apparently most of the TF:P tag, he grew on me. Fast. I like this rookie. I’m glad to have him.

Now some people on the tag seem to be convinced that he likely is a double agent or working for the Con’s somehow. I disagree.

The writers seem to set up this doubt in the beginning only to be resolved at the end of this episode… not later. We have that moment when Ratchet sees him going after the Phase Shifter and I fully believe that it is meant to be resolved when he pops out of the ground bridge and kicks Starscream right out of the Apex Armor.

This combined with the possibility that Jack is going to be his partner, just seems too much for me. The Autobots really needed a new character on their side. We’ve been given a loooot more Decepticons (though many are taken back quickly).

He’s are first glimpse of the Elite Guard in Prime. I don’t see why the writers would just make it so ~he a Decepticon all along~. Then again they have made bad choices before.

Now let me just take this time to explain why I’m so excited about his addition to the team. In my last little review, I mentioned the issues I have with the Decepticons not being varied enough and I’ve seen a post or too saying he is out to replace Bumblebee or even Cliffjumper, but once again I disagree.

Smokescreen is at a basic level the Scout from TF2. That is what I first thought of him and it was also the same exact reaction from a friend of mine and I didn’t even tell her until she expressed it to me. He is a cocky little guy. He thinks his eagerness and natural skill makes up for training. He’s got no experience and he thinks he is invincible.

Cliffjumper is cocky but… he’s a warrior. He’s been doing this for a while. I mean I can see some similarities but not really the same mechs to me. It doesn’t even matter at this point either with Cliff dead.

Bumblebee is young and a “kid” character as well. But he’s not so inexperienced. He can be childish and silly, but he generally knows his place… he knows his role. He’s been through things that Smokescreen probably hasn’t even imagined. I mean, they have similarities, but they aren’t the same.

Now that that is out of the way… How about Starscream?

I really don’t have much the say here that hasn’t been said. I’m just glad the Starscream torture porn from the first half of the season seems to be mostly over.

As for Miko and Bulkhead…

Holy crap. This is not what I was expecting to come out of the whole thing. But damn am I enjoying it. It’s not that I love to see them suffer, but I love how dark the show is willing to go. Bulkhead is alive and awake and he can even walk around a bit. But boy was Ratchet right. He is having such a hard time and god I love the development he and Miko are on the path for.

So… what do I see for future episodes…

Last post I expressed the idea that Jack would be partnered with Smokescreen in “Legacy” and without Bulkhead to really protect her Arcee would be with Miko.

I still think so, and I have some more… interesting possibilities.

Jack grew quite a bit in the first season. Arcee helped him with confidence. Though we haven’t really seen much of him recently, he seems very grown up. Perhaps he has… learned what he can from Arcee (and I feel like she has learned a bit from him as well). Their friendship is not over, but moving on to a new partner he could find something new about himself and develop more.

So what I find interesting is that with Smokescreen being just so green… I almost see Jack as the one keeping him out of trouble. And I… I just want to see that. It’s turning the tables and I just find the idea… adorable.

We’ve already seen Miko and Acree bonding in “Out of the Past”. And just like Jack has more to learn, I think these two could teach each other quite a bit.

And just speculation on my part… but I since they hang out ALL THE TIME NOW. I see Raf moving on to be more partnered with Ratchet. If it wasn’t for the weird, unexplained bond he has with understanding Bumblebee, I’d be super convinced of it too.

Wow that was a lot on one idea.

I’m just not even going into ideas about next weeks episode. I’m still butthurt about Breakdown. I just… ugh.

Uh little things… foreshadowing for something with Smokescreen (probably doing something stupid) and Airachnid. Starscream is going to take them drugs for super speed in “Hard Knocks”.

I don’t know. I’m just both excited and so not happy about next week’s ep. RIP Breakdown.