Crisscross

Crisscross is the twelveth episode of the first season of Transformers: Prime. It is the seventeenth episode of the series overall.

Premise
Airachnid teams up with M.E.C.H. in a plot to kidnap Jack's mother, intending to use her as bait to lure Jack and Arcee.

Synopsis
Silas and three other MECH soldiers are searching through a wooded area for a Decepticon. They jump into a web-shrouded ravine, but the three soldiers are snatched from the ground and stuck on one of the webs by Airachnid. Silas takes a shot at her, but is promptly thrown against a rock wall and webbed there. The Decepticon threatens to eviscerate him for what MECH did to Breakdown, but wants his help in finding Jack Darby and will give them Arcee.

Jack arrives home with Arcee, to find his mother mad that he's been breaking curfew and neglecting his job and schoolwork. She believes he may have been racing his motorcycle and grounds him for the next few weeks—with no motorcycle use. Arcee says she'll miss Jack during that time, but he points out that if she doesn't stay in the garage, his mom will think he's breaking her rules. Arcee promises she'll try to be back in the garage before his mom gets home each night.

The next day, as Jack's leaving KO Burger, he gets a call from his mother, who is on her way home early to make dinner for him. He frantically contacts Arcee, who's with Bumblebee in the middle of a fight with some Vehicons. Arcee leaves Bumblebee to it and bridges out. June arrives home to find the garage empty, and she blows up at Jack as he arrives on his bicycle. Arcee bridges into the garage behind her, but this merely results in June thinking one of Jack's friends snuck the motorcycle in. Jack spills all about the Autobots, but when Arcee refuses to transform, Jack's mom asks if he's been hanging out with a science fiction club. She leaves to return to work, the conversation unfinished. Silas uses images from the black box from Airachnid's ship to track down information on Jack, including the identity of his mother. A MECH vehicle soon arrives to abduct June as she leaves the hospital. Jack arrives home on his cycle to find Arcee, but no mom. There's a package waiting for him, which turns out to be a MECH communicator. Silas tells the pair that MECH has June, and there are GPS coordinates that will lead them to the temporary MECH facility. Arcee attempts to contact base and gets an instant headache. Silas explains the communicator will scramble her brain as well as Autobot communications. Jack and Arcee follow the communicator's map to a disused factory, where they're met by Silas and a bunch of MECH goons. They race past the MECH guys to look for Jack's mom and instead find Airachnid. Airachnid webs Arcee, who is then zapped by a MECH soldier. The 'Con tells Jack he has until midnight to rescue his mother. Jack tries to plead with Silas for help, but the MECH leader pushes him back. Jack then races off to find his mom, followed by Airachnid. Silas tells his men to start working on Arcee, as he suspects Airachnid will double-cross them.

Jack runs through the factory, but is unable to find June until Airachnid points her out, dangling in a web cocoon from a building. At this point, June awakens both to discover her predicament and to spy Airachnid. Jack tells Airachnid he's found his mom, but she points out the task was to rescue June. Webbing Jack's hand to the ground, she prepares to destroy his family.

The MECH surgeons finish cutting through the web holding Arcee, and Silas instructs them go for the heart, as they only have time to take one part. Arcee has recovered consciousness by this point, and she tosses the MECH personnel aside before leaving to help Jack.

As Jack continues to try to free his hand, Airachnid moves in on June. Before she can lay a hand on mom, however, Arcee comes barreling up a nearby roof and tackles her. Jack gets free and goes to help June, while Arcee and Airachnid battle on the factory superstructure. They eventually reach the ground, but Airachnid's laser fire damages the platform June is dangling from, and Jack has to scramble to avoid falling. Jack accidentally knocks against a lever, pouring concrete into a concrete truck on the ground. Arcee manages to kick Airachnid into a container nearby, and with Jack's help, pours concrete in on top of her. Airachnid starts climbing out, but is frozen by the quick-drying substance. Arcee goes to help June, but the concrete isn't enough, and Airachnid webs her back to the ground. Luckily, the cavalry arrives in the form of Agent Fowler with three helicopters armed with chain guns. Silas wonders how Fowler was alerted, and then realizes Jack stole his radio earlier.

The helicopters stop firing, but this just allows Airachnid to scan Fowler's chopper and make her escape in her new altmode. Her scanning process is also observed by Silas. Fowler introduces himself to June and attempts to weave a cover story, but June doesn't buy it. Jack introduces her to Arcee, and the next day, they go to the Autobot base so she can meet the rest of the Autobots. Optimus, along with Ratchet, Bumblebee and Bulkhead appear as June waves her hand to say hello.

Autobots

 * Arcee
 * Bumblebee
 * Ratchet (cameo)
 * Bulkhead (cameo)
 * Optimus Prime (cameo)

Decepticons

 * Airachnid
 * Vehicons (cameo)

Humans

 * Silas
 * MECH soldiers
 * Jack Darby
 * June Darby
 * MECH Surgeon
 * William Fowler
 * Miko Nakadai (cameo)
 * Rafael Esquivel (cameo)

Cast

 * Clancy Brown as Silas/Soldier
 * Ernie Hudson as William Fowler
 * Josh Keaton as Jack/MECH Surgeon
 * Sumalee Montano as Arcee
 * Markie Post as June Darby
 * Gina Torres as Airachnid

Quotes
June Darby: Tell me you haven't fallen in with a bad crowd.

Jack Darby: ''W-what? N-no no no no, my friends are the good crowd, seriously good.''

- June and Jack

Silas: Ah, the mother lode.

Airachnid: Government database?

Silas: Social networking page.

- Silas and Airachnid

Silas: ''Now, I know we promised the spider-bot that she would have first crack at you, but something tells me she's going to turn our mutual crisscross... into a double-cross.''

- Silas stating some distrust in Airachnid.

June Darby: Jack, your motorcycle?

Jack: ''I can explain, Mom. Wait, I already did.''

- June and Jack

Agent Fowler: Oh, not again!

- Agent Fowler after Airachnid scans the helicopter he's in.

Silas: ''So that's how it's done. Genius.''

- Silas after witnessing Airachnid scan and transform.

Agent Fowler: ''It's time you knew the truth. For the past several months, Jack has been... interning for me at the agency.''

Jack: Agent Fowler, Mom's not gonna buy that.

June Darby: He's got that right.

- Fowler fails at trying to convince June.

Jack: Motorcycle, Guardian, Autobot, friend.

- Jack to his mom about Arcee.

Jack: Mom, meet my science fiction club!

- Jack introducing June to the Autobots as the episode ends.

Errors/Notes

 * The amount of cement shown pouring onto Airachnid isn't actually enough to cover her entire body.
 * June takes an early break from work to cook Jack a dinner, but then as soon as she gets home, she returns to work.

Trivia

 * Agent Fowler previously had a vehicle of his scanned for an alternate mode by Skyquake back in "Masters & Students".
 * The soldier who reports to Fowler at the end is the same one who was on the train in "Convoy".
 * MECH has a really funny concept of "suppression fire".
 * The name of the social networking page is partially obscured, but begins with "Some Social".
 * Fowler got someone else to pilot his helicopter for him this time.
 * Silas calls June Darby "Miss Darby", but Fowler calls her "Mrs. Darby". The following episode would reveal the former to be accurate.
 * Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Bulkhead, Raf, and Miko all cameo at the end, but have no lines.
 * The way Airachnid says "'Transformer', was it", implies that Cybertronians don't use that term themselves and that it's mainly an invention of humans. This is different from most (if not all) other continuities, where "Transformers" is a term that they themselves seem to have come up with.
 * This is the first time anyone from the Autobots' team meets Silas face to face.
 * The photo in the Darby household is the opening shot from "Darkness Rising, Part 1", only flipped.
 * Jack is revealed to actually be a pretty good pickpocket-er, as shown when he stole Silas's radio.

Gallery
Main Article: Crisscross Gallery