TFtember: More than Meets the Eye, Part 1

"More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1", The Transformers, September 17 1984. 

So, this is it. The very first episode of the Transformers. Very similar to the first issue of the comic, we open on Cybertron. The war between the Autobots and the Decepticons has ravaged across the metal surface. 

We see Bumblebee and Wheeljack as they scavenge some energy conductors. They run into a Decepticon patrol and barely escape to their hidden base, which isn't hidden for much longer as it seems Decepticon Soundwave has been spying on them, disguised as a street lamp. They up their plans to leave the planet.  

Reporting back to his leader Megatron, the Decepticon commander puts Shockwave in charge and orders his troops to stop the Autobots from leaving Cybertron.

The two ships exchange fire and end up crashing on an isolated planet in the Sol system, Millions of years later they get woken up. 

From the plot diverges. The Decepticons attack a power station leading to humans discovering the Transformers. Another attack focuses on an oil rig, where Sparkplug Witwicky is showing his teenage son Spike around. The Decepticons attack while the Autobots arrive, but Optimus Prime ignores the fighting to save Spike and Sparkplug from the now blazing ocean water...

Pretty good. The script by George Arthur Bloom does a good job of setting up nearly every character of series one or at least introducing them. We do some odd bits, with some character not quite matching what they would look like later. Plus some how Reflector can print out his own photos. 

Something I just noticed, just how old is Spike supposed to be? It's implied that he's working, yet other episodes suggest he's a teen (and a young one at that). Is it legal for a teen to work on an oil rig? Not to mention Spike can take a swat from Rumble and somehow not die. 

Also, we'll be taking a look at the cartoon in production order, not order of airing.