Crash Course
From Transformers Wiki
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 That moment when Energon went all Wacky Races. We're just as befuddled as you are. | |||||||||
| "Crash Course" (Tokkun dā! Roadbuster) "Special Training! Roadbuster" | |||||||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS | ||||||||
| Airdate | 27 August 2004 (Japanese) November 8, 2004 (English) | ||||||||
| Writer | Akira Okeya | ||||||||
| Director | Kei'ichirō Kawaguchi | ||||||||
| Animation studio | Actas, Studio A-CAT (3D) | ||||||||
| Continuity | Unicron Trilogy | ||||||||
The Autobots hold a race to unwind for a bit, while Megatron beats up Shockblast.
Contents |
Synopsis
Kicker views a video message from his dad, mom, and sister, with Dr. Jones waxing enthusiastic over the new energon grid. Of course, he urges Kicker to keep looking for more energon. Kicker turns the message off in frustration, only to have Sally show up in person. Hot Shot also arrives and tells everyone that their work is not done yet, as the Decepticons are still running rampant.
Scorponok leads a horde of Divebomb and Insecticon drones on a bombing run. Below ground, Megatron is impatient for Unicron's restoration to be completed. Shockblast comments that it's his own fault for failing to defeat the Autobots, and Megatron orders him to fight him.
Ironhide laments that he still feels like a rookie. Hot Shot takes him off on a space bridge run, to "show him something". Feeling bored, Jetfire and Kicker follow, to Misha's frustration. Arcee notes that "the boys" are treating the new planet as their personal playground. Hot Shot and Ironhide arrive there, and Hot Shot announces that they're going to work on driving skills.
They arrive to find they're here for the Autobot Grand Prix, hosted by Sally and Skyblast (who somehow found sunglasses in his size)... and Ironhide's entered! The other 'bots are doubtful that the rookie can handle it, but Hot Shot gives him a vote of confidence.
Rodimus reports the race to Optimus Prime, who's a bit surprised, but takes it in stride when Rodimus admits to organizing it. Ironhide crashes while trying to pass the others, and Kicker joins him to help out. Jetfire and Bulkhead go to "make things interesting". Downshift and Prowl wind up in a pileup, but keep going. Kicker shows Ironhide how to cheat by drafting off of Downshift, which Ironhide interprets as a cue to sideswipe Prowl out of the way.
Bulkhead decides it's a good idea to open fire on the track, destroying a section of it, delaying some of the racers. Kicker lectures Ironhide on what Hot Shot's been trying to teach him.
Only Hot Shot and Ironhide make it past all the obstacles, when Jetfire decides to add more missile fire to the mix. Optimus shows up with his valet Wing Saber in tow and, after verifying that the laser fire is harmless, decides to join in the shooting-at-one's-comrades fun.
Prime lands in the race course, and Hot Shot and Ironhide must get past him. Ironhide ends up holding Optimus at a standstill, and urges Hot Shot to reach the finish line. But before Hot Shot can get there, Arcee and a mysterrrrious helmeted rider with a lot of long, flowing black hair passes them all and reaches the finish line. It's Misha! OMG! Who coulda guessed?
In a shiny place, Alpha Q laughs with the Autobots as they celebrate, and finds he likes laughing. His planet is safe!
Megatron has beaten the stuffing out of Shockblast, and only stops at the behest of Starscream, who needs him to finish the reconstruction of Unicron.
Dr. Jones finds what he suspects is an ancient temple where an ancient life force awaits to help protect the planet. Suddenly a figure emerges from the floor; energy strikes it, bringing it to life: Omega Supreme!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"What's going on?! Is it an earthquake?"
"It's Megatron. He's on the throne again!"
"What has he been eating?"
"It's energon. He's crazy for it! He sits around in the dark 'cause he doesn't want to waste any of it."
- —Snow Cat and Demolishor
"Hot Shot, why do I have to practice my driving? Hey! Did Kicker say I was a lousy driver or something?! Hot Shot!"
- —Ironhide, as he and Hot Shot walk to their destination.
"I hope you're using blanks."
"Oh, I am, sir."
- —Optimus Prime and Jetfire pretty much sum up the entire show
"Go.. get 'em... sir?"
- —Jetfire, suitably confused
"What happened? It feels like I've been hit by a semi."
- —Kicker, stating the obvious
Notes
Lost in translation
- Ironhide is particularly miserable in this episode because of his recent defeat at the hands of Scorponok, and his desire to beat him is mentioned several times in the original version of the episode. This defeat, however, occurred in the undubbed episode "Return! Our Scorponok", and these references are removed from the dubbed version of this episode to pave over the hole that the absence of "Return!" left.
- In Energon, Cliffjumper makes a transformation noise when doing an epic front flip in robot mode. Super Link fixes this issue by removing the sound.
- The dub omits the fact that while Jetfire is firing blanks at the competitors, Optimus uses real shots, which is why Hot Shot actually gets affected when he's hit.
- While Ironhide grapples Optimus, he yells at Hot Shot to cross the finish line because he deserves to win more than him in Energon, while in Super Link, Ironhide is more modest, and says that Hot Shot should go ahead if it means achieving victory against the "enemy".
- Continuing the Energon dub's bizarre fixation with trying to push Primus out of the picture by giving his lines to other characters or just cutting it out entirely, the final scene of this episode totally omits the dialogue between Primus and Doctor Jones featured in the original version. All the necessary information is still conveyed by Doctor Jones (who is, uh, talking to himself), but it makes it seem as though he has somehow discovered Omega Supreme's shrine on his own, when Primus originally led him there.
Pain count
- "Uh?": 9
- Team: 2
- Energon is great: 2
- "Let's do it!": 6
- Stock footage: 1
Continuity errors
- Dr. Jones tells Kicker he's just arrived on Cybertron via the Miranda II, and points helpfully to the Axalon.
- Why are Arcee and Misha both considered the winners? Shouldn't Arcee be the only one? With Arcee being a living bike, everything Misha did was sit down and wait for Arcee to cross the finish line...
Real-world references
- Jetfire references the famous proverb "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", except instead of "Jack a dull boy", he says "Me a bored Autobot".
Transformers references
- In response to their trash talk, Hot Shot tells Prowl, Cliffjumper, and Downshift that there's a lot more to Ironhide than meets the eye.
Trivia
- When Kicker first asks who brought Sally from Earth, the music playing is a considerably inappropriate violin piece. When combined with Hot Shot's also inappropriately sombre delivery of the line "I'm sorry, Kicker", it makes it seem like something sad has happened. It's the sort of music that would play if Hot Shot was about to tell Kicker his parents were killed and he brought Sally there for safety. Instead, he just brought Sally there so she could be the commentator for the race, and apologizes because Kicker isn't the only one on a special mission. Even with the Decepticons, nothing particularly dark is happening in this episode, so who's idea was it to slap that score into that scene?!
- This is the first episode where they finally unscramble Downshift's and Cliffjumper's names and voice actors.
- Although Inferno himself doesn't put in an appearance, there are a number of generic bots that use his animation model; all of them are white with limited highlights. The first one appears in the background of the sequence where the pit is shown, and the rest are in an early pan shot of the audience.
- Additionally a number of silver Hot Shots in vehicle mode appear throughout the episode, a few bots using Arcee's animation model towards the end.
- After he crashes on a curve, there's yet another scene with Ironhide drawn by hand.
- Arcee is also hand-drawn in the final scene.
- Two robots who turn into cars arrive on a racetrack planet... and walk to their destination.
Foreign localization
Italian
- Title: "La grande corsa" ("The Great Race")
Home video releases
- VHS
2005 — Transformers: Energon — Volume 4: Omega Supreme (Paramount)
- DVD
2005 — Transformer: Super Link — Volume 009 (Interchannel) — Japanese audio only.
2005 — Transformers: Energon — Volume 4: Omega Supreme (Paramount)
2008 — Transformers: Energon — The Ultimate Collection (Paramount)
2014 — Transformers: Energon — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
