Chapter Text
[Stinger]
S: Nintendo, we need a little electric raptor or just some sort of raptor… and also a peacock.
[Intro Music]
O: Hello, and welcome to the Afterspark Podcast, an episode by episode recap of the generation 1 Transformers cartoon. I’m Owls!
S: And I’m Specs.
O: And today we're going to be talking about episode number 53, Sea Change. Let's talk about giant robots and mermaids today, shall we?
S: Yeah!
B: [chuckle]
O: In all seriousness, this episode might have one of the most ridiculous plots out of the entire series. Which takes effort if you've been listening to us this long.
S: Well, I mean, compared to some of the other things that happen… I mean, how- how are we grading this?
O: Yeah- no- no- no, I'm aware- I'm aware it kind of depends on what what level you look at it but there- this episode is… it is GREAT. [laughs]
S: Mm-hm. We open on water sports and no, not the kinky kind.
O: Thank god! Uh, Seaspray has taken Bumblebee out water skiing.
S: It ends up being a bit too much for Bumblebee when Seaspray sends him up a ramp, and Bee just wipes out.
O: Once out of the water they both make a wish upon the first star they see that night.
S: Ah, so romantic! Bee says that he doesn't want any more water skiing, but Seaspray says he can't tell him his wish, otherwise it won't come true.
O: Seaspray is such a romantic at heart. It's really quite sweet.
S: It is. Maybe kind of childish, but it's so cute!
O: You know what? Like, I think he deserves to have a moment of sweetness considering they've been at war for millions of years!
S: Yeah. Yeah. Elsewhere, on a vaguely Mesoamerican looking world, a robot is whipping some humanoid alien workers carrying building materials.
O: One worker says that they'll overthrow Deceptitran, someday.
S: Oh boy, this got dark. The worker gets taken away by robots and is brought to Deceptitran.
O: Who is a spherical purple robot. An actual robot, as far as we can tell. Not a Transformer?
S: Or- or maybe it's just like, a weird computer thing? I don’t know.
O: Yeah, but he doesn't know- he doesn't seem to like, have a spark. He seems to have programming. He in fact, refers to his programming for his reasoning behind his actions at some point. So, I am going to assume he is a robotic- he- he is an actual robot not a robotic life form like the Transformers or something along those lines.
[This is confirmed, at least in the TFWiki for Deceptitran ~O]
S: Ah, we're getting into some-
O: Meta!
S: Yeah!
O: [laughs]
S: Getting into some weird stuff here, or maybe deeper stuff than we intended. Once the worker is in Deceptitran’s presence he is strapped to a chair and then his energy is siphoned away to make energon.
O: Which is not scary at all! Um, but he is then thrown back out with the rest of the workers, who revolt against the robot overlords and make an escape into the sea.
S: And suddenly there are mermaids helping the workers escape for some reason.
O: Well, check that mythical creature off our Transformers checklist!
S: We've had dragons, wizards, and now mermaids. What's next? Some human shapeshifters?
O: I mean, it really would not be that weird considering everything else we've seen but, hey.
S: Honestly, I'm just waiting for a werewolf.
O: Yeah, yeah, that could definitely be a thing. Uh, with the loss of his energy sources Deceptitran now has to contact the Decepticons for help.
S: Back on Earth, Seaspray and Bumblebee are still looking up at the now much darker night sky.
O: And Seaspray notices that they are being sent a message.
S: Oh, wow that message must be so powerful.
O: [laughs] Yeah, or something!
S: At the Ark, Preceptor decodes the message to the best of his ability and comes to the conclusion that it is a cry for help. Cosmos offers to take Bumblebee, Seaspray, and Preceptor, but Optimus is just too big!
O: Is Cosmos fat shaming Optimus!?
S: It’s more like height shaming? He's just too darn tall! Cosmos is a ride where you must be at least this short to ride!
O: [laughs] And just as the four of them are arriving on presumably, this alien planet Percy realizes that the message they received is a Decepticon S.O.S.!
S: I don't know if the planet's called Tlalakan or if it's just the city, but yeah, Decepticon S.O.S. That's not a thing they really should have…
O: Responded to! [laughs]
S: Yeah!
[The planet is called Tlalakan , but the city itself doesn’t appear to have a name. ~O]
S: Deceptitran has all of his soldiers shoot at Cosmos, hitting him and knocking him out of the sky.
O: Is Cosmos ever allowed to land gently without being shot at!?!
S: No, not even without plants trying to eat them.
O: [laughs] Ever! The worker escapees uh, see the Autobots crashing.
S: Cosmos transforms and then falls over, bemoaning the loss of his good looks.
O: Crash landings are hard on the old paint job, don't ya know?
S: Not to mention the structural integrity underneath that paint job!
O: [laughs] You know, the structural integrity that needs to protect them from the vacuum of space!
S: We've seen them in space before.
O: They’re fine!
B: [laugh]
S: God, I'm sorry, I'm just remembering Stars- or no, Shockwave on top of Starscream that one time they were flying through space. The other three Autobots run off trying to escape the soldiers.
O: One of the workers from before realizes that they should be helping the Autobots since they all have a common enemy.
S: Yep, and she manages to drop a tree on the soldiers. This is one badass lady!
O: She is! Uh, Seaspray tackles some of the other soldiers that were trying to grab her after this.
S: Mm-hm.
O: Leading to her walking up to him and immediately introducing herself as Alana.
S: Alana has priorities and those priorities are, “Get it girl!” What is ‘it’? We just don't know.
O: Not yet! Seaspray however, is very smitten with her.
S: Unfortunately, for the Autobots and the natives, Astrotrain arrives with Megatron, Soundwave, and Dirge in tow.
O: Oh, they sent the big guns! Or ahem, the big gun.
S: Yep. The workers arrive at the very well named Well of Transformation, where all of the workers jump in and then transform into mermaids.
O: Alana explains that the Well of Transformation dissolves the body leaving ‘just the essence’ to form into whatever the hell they want.
S: This lends the question, are they the same people they were when they went in when they come out or you know, the transporter question from Star Trek.
O: Really? Because it reminds me of the Theseus’ ship question. If the materials have all changed are they really the same ship?
S: Very fair, very fair.
O: [laughs]
S: Seaspray wants to give it a try, but when the droids chasing them into the cave fell in they kind of disappeared which is you know, worrying. And Alana tells them the same thing might happen to them.
O: Bee almost falls in anyway, but is caught by Seaspray.
S: Alana tells them where to meet up and blows Seaspray a kiss.
O: Seaspray goes all gooey inside saying, “She kissed me!” It is so cute.
S: It is! It's adorable .
O: [laughs]
S: Because like, he does this thing where he's got his hands up by his face and just looks like an- he looks like an anime high school girl.
O: He really does!
S: Bee pushes him out of the cave like, oh god, you love sick moran, so that they can go to the meet-up point. And then the four of them arrive, but are attacked by the Decepticons.
O: Oh hey! Rumble and Laserbeak are here today too. I guess they went on an outing with daddy?
S: I guess, yeah. They hop in the water and hang on to Seaspray as they go right over a waterfall.
O: Preceptor, Seaspray, and Cosmos are all able to meet up with Alana but unfortunately for Bumblebee, he's caught and adopted by Soundwave- I mean taken prisoner!
S: But it definitely looks like he's been adopted like, he's being held around the waist while Soundwave flies and just…
O: [laughs] [It] really does. It's just like, ah, I see Soundwave has gotten another one.
S: Yep. Alana takes the remaining Autobots to meet her people in their underwater city, and ask for their help in rescuing Bee. The Autobots are geared up with weapons and bombs and head back to the surface.
O: Bombs that work underwater too, damn!
S: I have many questions, and I feel like the humans would have many questions too!
O: [laughs]
S: And also a desire to have a training relationship.
O: Well, to be fair they are a people that lives under water. So, I can kind of see how this happened.
S: Yeah.
O: Um, Dirge is upset because all of the explosions that are happening are interrupting his probe uh, into Bumblebee's head???
S: Because apparently Dirge has some psychiatric experience, or maybe he's just a fledgling mad scientist because yeah, they got electrodes or whatever on Bumblebee's head. Apparently, they're trying to do some mind reading which is…
O: [laughs]
S: Honestly, I don't think it's not the- I don't think it's- no! It's not even the first time they've done something like this.
O: Yeah, it’s not even the most questionable thing we've seen in the show. The only thing I can think of is they were like, “Well, we trust Dirge to be more careful with this than the Insecticons?”
S: But I mean why didn't they- maybe just because Soundwave didn't have any luck with um, shoot, what's her face from The Girl Who Loved Powerglide?
O: [laughs] Astoria.
S: Astoria, but I mean heck they managed to mind wipe Bumblebee in like the first ten episodes.
O: Oh yeah, I forgot about that!
S: Jeez. The Decepticons head out to fight the rebels, leaving Bumblebee alone and able to transmit to Seaspray. I don't think they even have his hands properly tied down?
O: Or something. Alana and Seaspray arrive in free Bumblebee, but are unfortunately followed by Laserbeak.
S: Who sends the Decepticons the location for the underwater city.
O: Meanwhile, Alana and Seaspray and the other rebels are able to make it back to the Well of Transformation.
S: Seaspray is apparently hurt that Alana thinks he'll disappear, because he needs to know if he's a real boy.
O: [laughs] And so he jumps into the well! Uh, while Alana cries saying that she loved him. Despite them knowing each other for a couple of hours probably, but whatever!
S: I don't know maybe- maybe her people just bond fast? Seaspray pops up out of the water, and now is like, a hunky blonde.
O: It does not look like what I think a human version of him should look but, um…
S: He looks like He-Man.
O: He does! And he's still got metal feet for some reason?
[Which is hilarious, because Seaspray is actually voiced by Alan Oppenheimer , who voices Skeletor ~O]
S: Yep, maybe he was afraid to go all the way, or maybe the Well of Transformation just doesn't work quite like that. Or maybe it's they're the incontrovertible metal feet of his soul.
O: [laughs] Alana is happy, but she says she liked him as a robot already, and then they jump back into the well and Seaspray turns into a perfectly normal mermaid… man.
S: No metal feet anywhere, or even metal fins.
O: [laughs] Which you think- yeah, I don't know- I don't know. I don't even know why that they did that for three seconds, but okay!?!
S: I don't know. Maybe just to prove that it wasn't weird random dude?
O: [speaking while laughing] I don't know.
S: The Decepticons arrive at the underwater city, Megatron congratulating Laserbeak on his good work.
O: Proving yet again that Megatron thinks highly of the cassettes. As he should!
S: Alana and Seaspray see the Decepticons arriving at the city, and then they head back to the Well of Transformation, because Seaspray does not think that he can fight the Decepticons as a merman.
O: Which, fair. I mean, fair
S: Yes, he is now alarmingly squishy and that's probably not so good for you know, an umpteen million-year-old robot’s sense of mortality.
O: [laughs] Megatron sees the two of them fleeing and sends Rumble after them, thinking they are the leaders of the rebellion.
S: You had five seconds of observation!
O: He's very good at reading people?
S: Eh…
O: He's like, half right okay, like-
S: Kinda.
O: Alana- I would consider probably is one of the leaders of the rebellion so… eh?
S: Yeah. Yeah, I would say Alana would probably be like, the lead general, maybe?
O: Maybe.
S: So, the couple arrived back at the Well of Transformation, and Rumble starts transforming too. And is very confused about all of this!
O: Alana tells him that he must, “Think of a tree,” otherwise he has no chance of surviving. So, Rumble turns into a tree. Somehow the silliness in this episode just keeps upping itself because Rumble turning into a tree is somehow more ridiculous than Seaspray turning into hunky Conan and then into a mermaid!
B: [laugh]
S: Yeah, but to be fair Rumble is basically just a tree with Rumble face.
O: [laughs]
S: Alana turns into a sexy ladybot to help Seaspray take on the Decepticons. She's also able to turn into a boat!
O: A cool looking boat!
S: Yes, it looks like a viking long ship but without sails.
O: And can shoot lasers!
S: Mm-hm. Mm-hm. She's the magic boat… of kick-ass.
O: [laughs]
S: Underwater, the mermaids are having trouble with the Decepticons until Deceptitran calls and tells Megatron that all the energon will be destroyed if they don't get back.
O: Megatron does not give a shit about Deceptitran but he does care about the energon, so off they go.
S: Yeah. However, once we cut back to Deceptitran again Alana has made him her bitch.
O: Right down to calling her, “Mistress,” and saying he's at her command. I don't know what the fuck she did, but good job!
S: She tells him to have the droids attack the Cons when they return to the city.
O: And Seaspray leads them on a merry chase through the energon warehouse. When the droids catch up and begin shooting at him.
S: Seaspray takes a parting shot at the energon causing it to you know, explode, and take the city with it. Way to take your life into your hands Seaspray!
O: And as things begin to fall apart, uh, tree Rumble is knocked back into the Well of Transformation and is able to return to normal.
S: The Decepticons all escape, Rumble just barely catching up with them as Astrotrain takes off into space. And like, this entire thing it's like, Astrotrain going over the water like a duck before takeoff.
O: [laughs] Alana then returns to normal and Seaspray is sad, but she lets him know that they don't need to be the same on the outside to be in love.
S: And the episode ends with Alana and Seaspray riding off into the sunset.
O: His wish from the beginning of the episode presumably being granted. In all seriousness, they are super cute together and I love it.
S: It's very cute.
O: Yeah, like, she never shows up again- like… like, with most characters in this show!
S: Yeah, like, there are a number of like secondary female characters that are pretty kick-ass that would be nice if they showed up again.
O: Yeah, yeah! Regardless, that's the end of our episode. So, join us next time when Hoist Goes Hollywood and gets the Autobots involved with the movie industry?!?
S: Oh, it goes badly.
O: [laughs] I certainly… goes.
S: [laughs] Yeah.
O: And I believe Specs has some fanfic recommendations for the day.
S: Yep, uh, the first one is Sueage [sewage]. Sue-age? I'm going to go with Sue-age by PrincessArtemis. It's in the G1 cartoon continuity, rated K+, it's gen, though not for lack of hope on the part of an OC- original character.
O: [laughs]
S: Um, no pairings, and the characters here are, Jazz, Preceptor, and an original character. Summary: See Jazz bored. See Jazz so bored he drags Preceptor to a nightclub. See Jazz really wish he hadn't done that. Intentional Mary Sue, you have been warned!
So, the character theme or rec here, robots magically turning into humans.
O: [laughs]
S: Because guess what that Mary Sue does? She wants to try and romance Jazz. It does not go well.
O: [continues laughing]
S: Alright, and it's a one shot. The second fanfic is Potential Energy: Chapter three by Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1). Continuity, it's a G1 cartoon, rated G, it's a romance genre.
O: [laughs] It's slash.
S: Yes, more or less, because Seaspray and Alana, they're sort of cannon. They're- they're the pairing, and the characters are Seaspray and Alana. In summary, “You can't force chemistry to exist where it doesn't, in the same way you can't deny it when it does. A collection of mostly unrelated one-shots/drabbles revolving around the many Cybertronians who love one another.” And I picked it because it was episode related. It was also pretty cute, and it's very short because it's a drabble. So, I believe we've got some fan art recommendations?
O: Yes, we do! So, our recommendation- our fan art recommendation for today is Katy Parken or bilonic. Uh, she's known on several of her social media. Uh, we will be linking to her Tumblr and her Twitter. I- her stuff is very enjoyable, it is very well stylized, expressive uh, robots and they have these very nice energetic compositions. Specifically the stuff we're going to be recommending today. One of them is from a zine-
S: Ohhh!
O: And it is Misfire and Swerve at presumably, some kind of shooting gallery.
S: Oh, I've got this zine! I thought it looked familiar.
O: Specifically, uh, Swerve’s uh, gun says, “My First Blaster.”
S: [laughs]
O: It is fantastic. Ah, Misfire’s expression is perfect.
S: And they're both losers.
O: They’re both losers.
S: And they look so happy.
O: Uh, this one is a Drift and Rodimus piece. Uh, just, they just look cool together as I said-
S: I like it's nice.
O: Their express- they've got very expressive um, faces and it's very nice.
S: Mm-hm.
O: And this other one is what I would consider a um, a Whirl meme which is essentially, “He peck, he wreck, but most importantly he dress fine as heck.”
S: [laughs]
O: It's just a little comic. It is cute, it is funny.
S: He's got a little top hat.
O: I know, it’s amazing!
S: It's a bow tie, and is that a vest?
O: I… think it is actually, now that you point it out. We're linking to Twitter because not all of the art I found is on their Tumblr, but I will reblog what we can.
S: Mm-hm, and that just about wraps it up for us today. Remember to check us out on Tumblr or Pillowfort as Afterspark-Podcast for any additional information, show notes, or links we may have mentioned. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter @AftersparkPod (all in one word) and various other locations by searching for Afterspark Podcast such as AO3, iTunes, Spotify, and Youtube, just to name a few. And feel free to send us questions on Tumblr, Youtube or AO3. Till next time, I'm Specs.
O: And I'm Owls.
S: Toodles!
[Outro Music]