Sari, No One's Home



Left alone in the Autobots' home base, Sari must defend it against an intrusion by the Constructicons.

Summary


At the Autobot base, Prowl is going through his obstacle course and passes with ease. Sari comes in and decides that anything a living hunk of metal can do, she can do better. Prowl allows her to proceed, but only at one quarter speed—which proves to be about a quarter speed too high for her as, a swinging crane arm clocks her in the back of the head, knocking her flat on her face. Sari starts complaining, and an amused Prowl consoles her, when Bulkhead barges in, complaining about the sound of constant dripping. Tracking it down, he finds the drip in an oil leak in Bumblebee's arm. Ratchet offers a tune up, but Bumblebee is adamant about being in perfect working order. Before a proper argument breaks out, Optimus appears and turns on the news, which shows Mixmaster and Scrapper robbing oil from an auto supply shop. The Autobots debate whether or not the two bots will remember them and note they have to get to them before Megatron. The Autobots transform and roll out, but Optimus stops Sari from following, pointing out that a) the last time she was near those two, they nearly took her head off, and b) a kid isn't going to be a match for a two-story robot. Prime catches up with the rest, and they head towards the pair's last known location, not noticing that Bumblebee's leak is leaving a trail straight to the factory. Sari, meanwhile, is moping over being left home...before realising she's been left home alone! She then proceeds to stuff her face with chocolate, strap herself to a crane and have her own homemade funfair ride, and attempt Prowl's course at full pelt (which goes about as well as the first time).

The Autobots are en route with Bumblebee's leak slowly driving Bulkhead insane. After reaching his limit, he slaps an "I love Autobots" sticker on the hole, and it seems to solve the problem. Unfortunately, they are a little late, as Scrapper and Mixmaster have spotted the trail. Lamenting their inability to remember where they got the real good stuff, the Constructicons decide to follow the yellow twit's trail and see if it leads 'em to anything worth drinking.

Unknown to all and sundry, Megatron has picked up the Constructicons' location. He hands Blitzwing a barrel of oil and orders him to find the pair and bring them back, while at the same time avoiding confrontation with the Autobots. Blitzwing is happy to oblige, transforming to jet mode and heading for the city.

Meanwhile, the Constructicons have arrived at the factory, and Mixmaster promptly melts the door. Sari, hanging out in Prowl's room with her headphones on, doesn't hear the alarm go off.



Meanwhile, the Autobots have found nothing on their search. Bumblebee briefly mistakes a regular construction vehicle for Mixmaster, while Bulkhead sees what he thinks is Blitzwing, but isn't sure. Bumblebee decides to call in Sari, but she doesn't answer (unaware that Scrapper just accidentally crushed Sari's phone). When he sees the Autobots, Icy Blitzwing remembers that he is not to engage them, but Hothead and Random Blitzwing decide to crush them anyway. The Autobots try to draw him away from civilians, but they end up at a backed-up on ramp. With nowhere to move, Prime orders Ratchet and Bumblebee to clear the humans out while the he and the others take on Blitzwing.

At the plant, Sari holds a council of war (with her teddy bear) and decides to fight them off herself. Arming herself with hockey pads, she puts on a helmet and picks up a hockey stick. As the intruders explore the rec room, Sari attacks, and but her hockey stick shatters. Hiding in Prowl's room until the Constructicons move on, she gets outside through a drainage pipe, reenters through the melted front gate, and contacts the Autobots in the communication center. Unfortunately, they are taking a pounding from Blitzwing, so Bumblebee tells her to hide until they can get there. Unwilling to wait, Sari decides to set a trap...with some nice, delicious cans of oil. Predictably, the two neutrals walk in and see Sari with three barrels ready. Mixmaster demands the oil, despite Scrapper's fear that's it a trap. He's right, for Sari uses the machines to dump it on the ground, causing Mix and Scrap to fall down and go boom and allowing her time to escape.



Elsewhere, Blitzwing is dominating the Autobots, so Prime decides to end this with an Omega formation. Bumblebee goes in first, but his stingers do little damage. Then Bulkhead throws Prowl, allowing him to execute a high-speed kick, but Ratchet's attempt to finish off Blitzwing gets him taken hostage. At this point, however, Megatron orders Blitzwing to disengage, and he takes to the air.

At the plant, Mix and Scrap decide to take down Sari, but Sari sets up the factory machines to thrash them, put them on the assembly line, get riveted, magnetized, and dumped on the ground. Mix finally calls it quits, and the two roll out. When the Autobots return, they fear the worst upon seeing the damage, but Sari shows up and tells them how she drove them off. Prime apologizes for doubting her and offers praise for her bravery and ability to drive off Mixmaster and Scrapper...until he sees the candy wrappers...

On the road, Mixmaster and Scrapper are still fleeing Sari, when Blitzwing spots them. He offers them some oil, which Mixmaster remembers as the great stuff they previously had. He offers them more if they follow him, and the trio walk into the sunset. After all, Megatron has plans for them.

Endgame plans...

Stats

 * Written by: Todd Casey
 * Directed by: Irineo Maramba & Yutaka Kagawa
 * Original airdate: June 5, 2008 (UK)

Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes
"What's the matter with you?! You're an excavator, not a golf cart! Grow a backhoe and let's get some oil!"
 * Mixmaster tells Scrapper to man up.

Now I'll have to call Prime and the others from the Communication center, out there. By the time they get here those two oil guzzlers'll wreck the whole place. [stares at her teddy bear] "No. This is my house and I'm going to defend it! I'll show them I'm just as tough as they are!" [quieter] "Even though I'm talking to a teddy bear."
 * Sari becomes the next Macaulay Culkin

Hothead Blitzwing: AUTOBOTS! I WILL POUND THEM INTO IRON FILINGS! Icy Blitzwing: But my orders are to find the Constructicons. Random Blitzwing: Oh, but I do love iron filings! Especially sprinkled on top of servo salad!
 * Ladies and gentlemen, Random Blitzwing just got a little scarier.

"You broke my cell-phone, but you will not break my TV!"
 * Sari Sumdac is filled with righteous fury.

"YI-AHHHHHH!" [hits Mix with a hockey stick, which breaks] "Okay...that's as far as my plan got."
 * Sari vs. the Constructicons.

Hothead Blitzwing: COME BACK HERE, SO I CAN RIP YOUR PISTONS THROUGH YOUR TAILPIPES! Random Blitzwing: Oh, and void your warranty with excess wear and tear. AHAHAHAHAHAHA!
 * Ah, Blitzwing, how we've missed you.

Optimus Prime: "I, uh, apologize for underestimating you, Sari. You performed bravely today." Bumblebee: "Glad you're okay, squirt." [they walk inside and see candy all over the floor] Optimus Prime: "SAAARRRIII!!!"
 * Optimus officially becomes a father.

"You were right, Scraps. That little beast is a terror! I'll never doubt you again!" "I think we lost her." "Nah, I doubt it."
 * Mixmaster can't keep his word to Scrapper for three seconds, can he?

Other notes

 * A run of Season 2 episodes were first shown in Dubai, but this episode was not among them; instead, it was first seen in the UK.

Animation errors

 * When Megatron gives Blitzwing his mission objectives, while the camera is focused on his face, Blitzwing is miscoloured, with the beige torso sections opposite his cockpit now coloured purple.
 * During several shots, the brow areas of the Constructicons are miscoloured, swapping colours on occasions.
 * Once again, Optimus has a firetruck for his back half when he returns to base (though it was missing at his departure), but it's gone as soon as he transforms.

Continuity errors

 * For about half of the episode, we see that Bumblebee is leaking oil out of his right arm. Bulkhead thinks it's annoying and makes a big deal out of it.  Yet even after the battle is over, nobody even bothers to fix the (now-patched) leak.
 * Although the sirens go off when the Constructicons break into the base, the Autobots seem to have had no way to detect it. Apparently, they just installed sirens for the hell of it.
 * When Blitzwing leaves the Decepticon base, Megatron gives him one barrel of oil, but when he meets up with the Constructicons, he has two.
 * Bumblebee's stingers have been rather inconsistently powered. In previous episodes, they've been able to shove Swindle back and take down a building, but do nothing to a regular construction vehicle, or Blitzwing.

Transformers references

 * The same worker from "Nature Calls" reappears here, and he's even got a name in the credits: Sparkplug.
 * When Sari is listening to music in Prowl's room, she is humming the "More than Meets the Eye" theme (despite the music being a completely different tune).
 * Maramba Brothers Auto Supply is named after Animated director Irineo Maramba.

Real-world references

 * There's a general similarity between this episode and the movie Home Alone. Sari quotes Macaulay Culkin's character Kevin (see above), Scrapper acts as dumb as Daniel Stern's character Marv, and Mixmaster has always sounded like Joe Pesci...
 * Bulkhead launching Prowl at Blitzwing is remarkably similar to the "Fastball Special" maneuver from X-Men comics, in which Colossus uses his super-strength to launch Wolverine at villains.
 * As Sari prepares for battle with the Constructicons, her hockey stick makes a light saber sound effect when she swings it.

Miscellaneous trivia

 * Blitzwing just stands around while the Autobots attempt to plot his downfall using a football huddle. Is he arrogant or just plain crazy? As a matter of fact, scratch that, he IS crazy.