Transformers: Robots in Disguise has a lot of “middle of the story lull” types of episodes due to its nature. Which means little happens to move the overarching plot forward. In this case, a hair metal concert.
The bots are searching a train yard for some high quality cable, since it keeps getting stolen and they have reason to believe that the little Decepticon conspiracy they’ve become aware of is responsible. It turns out that Springload is doing the pilfering, and he’s every bit as crazy and evasive as ever. So much so, that Bee is on edge enough to accidentally shoot Grimlock by accident. He was lucky they had their weapons to stun.
Denny recommends a break, considering the mental fatigue of constantly being on patrol. Fixit just happens to find a likely next target; the sound boards being used at a concert by a band called Rear Axle. Their name sounds dirty if you say it fast enough, so I’d argue it fits the bill. Bee geeks out about it; if Decepticons don’t show up, he gets to enjoy a concert. No one else is enthusiastic about it, coming up with any excuse to avoid it… except Denny.
Denny’s jazzed to go with, but then he remembers that he was supposed to meet someone for business. So he bribes Russell into going and getting him a T-shirt. Russell is still not pleased about being there, and decides to let Bee enjoy the concert while he gets the shirt… and then gets lost backstage, somehow, like that scene in This Is Spinal Tap.
He winds up in a room containing the stage props the band is using, all loaded on industrial lifts to get them to stage level. Unfortunately, he isn’t alone: Bisk is there, with his assigned Minicons who are dumb as rocks. Russell spends the next couple of minutes bumbling through every single object that could possible fall over and make noise, but it’s okay. He makes it out without getting smooshed, and lets Bumblebee know that he will not likely get to enjoy the rest of Rear Axle’s almost entirely instrumental performance.
Everybody thinks that Bee and Bisk are just in line with the band’s stage props, so no one bats an eye when they’re walking around backstage in their robot mode. Bisk gets shoved onstage, only for Bee to follow him. They’re both starstruck to realize that they are on stage with the band, but it wears off of Bisk first. They actually have a pretty awesome fight onstage while a vocal-less hair metal track plays in the background.
Bee manages to squeak out a win, with the power of rock on his side. They box Bisk and his little numbskulls up in a crate to take back to the scrapyard. In the process of getting to the stage, the shirt got covered in stadium nachos and cola, but Denny loves how distressed it came anyway.
Transformers: Robots in Disguise sort of brought to mind all those other shows with this one. In the sense that it’s hard to believe a hair metal band thriving without vocals. That being said, still happy with it. Would listen to the full thing.
Final Thoughts:
- Sometimes art is taking big rocks and making them into little rocks. Modern art is about putting someone else’s crap behind glass.
- The fact that, as far as I know, Denny has always had some form of facial hair scares me.
- Beth is objectively KISS’s best song, musically speaking. You can direct your hate mail to… I don’t know… someone else you generally don’t like.
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