Episode 1 – The Need for Read – This was a creative episode. Having Mo and Thrash to get a comic for Robby is an interesting premise. The other half of it being Bumblebee wanting to rescue Breakdown from being behind the dome created by Terratronus. For the most part of the episode, I had thought that Breakdown was going to actually change sides to be an Autobot and be allies with Bumblebee which would have been cool. But of course he had to trick Bumblebee because he wanted to have the other Decepticons escape the dome. Sad that it didn’t work out in the end to have Breakdown on the side of good. I had a feeling that Shockwave would take over as leader of the Decepticons which makes him the right choice. Plus he is a different leader compared to both Megatron and Starscream since he is looking at things in a more logical perspective. So yeah his style of leadership seems to be more of a reasonable one plus he allowed Bumblebee, Mo and Thrash to leave in the end. I did like how Shockwave scuffed at the comic with his picture on it. That did make me laugh. Fun to have a race against Bumblebee and Breakdown which I guess you could say it is a rematch race since with the introduction of Breakdown in season 1 those two didn’t get a proper race in GHOST was after both Breakdown and Bumblebee. But it was nice to know that Bumblebee had won the race in the end. Not my favorite premiere compared to the others but it was still a good episode.
Episode 2 – Attack of the Drive-In Movie – This episode went all over the place in being silly. I liked that Robby was able to go on a date with Izzy. I wouldn’t had expected Dot, Alex, Mo, Twitch, Thrash, Hashtag, Jawbreaker and Nightshade joining in their “date”/Malto family movie night. The idea of Nightshade’s movie camera making the little alien robots come to life was an interesting idea. Then having a lot of them appear out of screen into real life was also interesting. It was fun seeing Robby and Izzy not phased the little alien robots running around scaring everyone else while they thought that it was part of the movie/act the Terrans had for them because a lot of other things they did made it felt real to them. On top of that having both Frenzy and Laserbeak there just sitting and watching the movie as well made me laugh. I guess having them there was random but silly. Then when Robby and Izzy got sucked into the movie it was something I didn’t expect. I am glad that they were able to escape from the mother robot. So the creature at the end or should I say the sequel of the movie I am not sure if that was to be some sort of nod to Godzilla because the movie that Hashtag picked out was set in the 50s and the first Godzilla movie came out in 1954 so not sure if that was supposed to be in a direct reference to that movie or not. But to me it felt like it was. Plus he had a fire breath similar to Godzilla. Glad that both Robby and Izzy were able to get out of the movie in time before the “Godzilla” monster got them. This was a fun episode.
Episode 3 – The Great Escape – Another creative episode that involved an escape room. The big surprise was the return of Fairmaestro. I am glad that he wasn’t just a one-off villain. While we still don’t know much about him, he still seemed interested in Robby, Mo and the Terrans. Glad that Hashtag, Jawbreaker and Nightshade were there with Robby, Mo, Twitch and Thrash this time because they weren’t there when they first encountered him. It was fun to have this as an escape room and each character was given a trial based on their characteristic. But of course Twitch was there mainly to provide them with the right answer in order for them to win. Unexpected twist that while it seemed that everyone escaped after their trial turns out that Fairmaestro kept them as part of his carnival/prisoner. Then Twitch had to manage her own escape while trying to rescue the others but luckily the others were able to mange to escape themselves. The episode kinda ended on a sort of cliffhanger or just a random ending due to the fact that Fairmaestro would only let everyone go in the end if he loses at his own game which I guess he did lose since in the next episode they escaped. Plus it doesn’t reveal what really happened to Fairmaestro which would lead us to believe he will return again. I guess the idea of Fairmaestro’s golden tickets were a nod to Willy Wonka’s golden tickets. But a creative episode.
Episode 4 – No Soldier Left Behind – This was another great episode. The arrival of a new Autobot that being Prowl. I have to say that Prowl was a great addition to the Autobot roster and brought a lot to this season. What was also an interesting aspect for this episode is the trust of Megatron. This storyline continued throughout this episode and the next. Seemed like Prowl didn’t trust Megatron because he wasn’t on Earth when Megatron switched sides to the Autobots and he still saw him as the enemy. Heck even Optimus throughout the episode didn’t get along with Megatron because he didn’t follow orders. One thing that I liked about this episode is that all of the Decepticons (Shockwave, Soundwave, Ravage, Laserbeak, Frenzy, Breakdown, Skywarp, Nova Storm, Swindle, Hardtop, Shrapnel, Bombshell and Skullcruncher) were all present to fight against Optimus, Megatron and Prowl. That battle was pretty cool with a good amount of action. Another standing out point is when the Decepticons were escaping from Earth then Shockwave making Megatron make a choice to save Optimus or to return to the Decepticons. Made me happy to know that Megatron making the right choice to go and save Optimus which shows you that Megatron has fully reformatted into a good guy like his IDW counterpart. At the end when Megatron was upset at Optimus because he didn’t like that Megatron disobeyed his orders that was a strong moment. I am glad that Prowl was able to see Robby, Mo, Dot, Twitch and Thrash as allies rather than just “pets” since he didn’t like the humans at first. Also Prowl having a key that can restore a Spark after someone dies that is an interesting idea. It would come in handy if one of the Autobots were to die they could use it to revive them. Overall it was a good episode.
Episode 5 – Fire and Ice – Another good episode. I would have never expected the Hate Plague story to be explored again but it was cool to see another take on it. How interesting that the Autobot base had a little transport ship that took them to a GHOST base somewhere up north where snow is. Not sure why this wasn’t explored before but creative. Again this story continued the tension between Prowl and Megatron as well as tension between Optimus and Megatron. Of course Optimus and Megatron not getting along because Megatron wanted to have the base completely on lockdown then to abandon the base so the Hate Plague wouldn’t spread but Optimus refused to leave the other Autobots behind. And Prowl and Megatron not getting along because Megatron is making decisions that Prowl doesn’t like. I guess it was a good thing that Twitch returned to Autobot base because if she didn’t then the Hate Plague could have gotten out of control or worse spread further outside the base. I did find it interesting the way to expel the Plague was to use cold water rather than having Optimus use the Matrix of Leadership to stop the Plague like he did in G1 Season 3. Another difference is that in G1 the Hate Plague spread to the Autobots, Decepticons, humans and the Sharkticons but in EarthSpark it only infected the Autobots while Robby, Mo and the Terrans weren’t infected which was a good thing. At the end I am glad that Optimus and Megatron were able to make up and to find a way to allow both of them to work together. Because Megatron is willing to follow orders from Optimus and to trust him and to not allow the Autobots to go down a bad path. Which reminded me in Transformers One how both Orion and D-16 were willing to look out for one another. So I am glad that in the end Optimus and Megatron were able to have a good relationship as brothers. Overall this was a good episode.
Episode 6 – The Truth Is Out There – This was good episode. What I liked about this one is that it was another Prowl focused episode but this allowed him to fully use him as a police officer/detective. Which in all honesty the role of Prowl being a police officer hasn’t been explored a lot; the only other time was in Robots in Disguise (2001) where that version of Prowl was fully committed as a police officer. So I was glad that the episode did that. Plus having Thrash there as I guess the good cop was funny. It made the episode more enjoyable because he was following both cases of finding out where the Hate Plague came from but also trying to figure who broke his bowling ball. Not sure why but that made me laugh. It was fun seeing Jon Schloder for a brief moment in the episode trying to follow Bumblebee but unable to catch up to him because a school bus was in front of him. I would also say that this episode felt like a detective story trying to piece all of the clues on who did it (infected Bumblebee with the Hate Plague). It was a surprise to learn that Izzy is in fact a Quintesson shapeshifter and she was only there to get rid of the Autobots. I also did felt bad for Robby because he had thought he found someone he loved but it turns out that Izzy wasn’t a nice person. I also found it interesting that Nightshade made a device that had some liquid cold to spray on the Autobots in case they got infect with the Plague again. It came as a handy device to save Prowl. While it was good that the shapeshifter was caught but it was also sad for Robby to lose his girlfriend. Still a good episode.
Episode 7 & 8 – Judgment Day – Par 1 & 2 – Like many season finales this one is such a great one. Having every single Autobot (Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, Elita One, Arcee, Wheeljack, Grimlock, Cosmos, Prowl) as well as Robby, Mo, Dot, Alex, Twitch, Thrash, Hashtag, Jawbreaker and Nightshade made this finale epic. The goal was to stop the Quintesson Judge from taking the Cyber Sleeves from Robby and Mo was an interesting piece to the story. Then it leads into the idea of Optimus wanting to revive both Aftermath and Spitfire to aid them in the fight was an unexpected. I got some G1 vibes when Robby and Mo were standing on trial to the Quintesson Judge then them going into the Sharkticon tank reminded of when Hot Rod and Kup were sent in trial in front of the Quintesson Judge and Quintesson Prosecutor then they got dunk into the Sharkticon tank which they had to fight their way out. Same thing happened with Robby and Mo expected they found a weapon from a dead robot in order to make their escape from the Sharkticon pit. Before Robby and Mo fell into the pit, I am glad that Robby was able to save Mo instead of letting her fall into the pit. Because I know that he was still hurting when he learned Izzy was actually a Quintesson shapeshifter. So I am glad that his emotions didn’t consume him to make him lose focus on the mission. The part when Optimus, Prowl, Bumblebee, Hashtag and Jawbreaker go and rescue Aftermath and Spitfire only to see Starscream having a tea party with them that was a surprise moment. To which I guess he went insane since he was stuck inside the head of Terratronus for a long time. I thought Prowl was going to die in this episode which he did but it wasn’t permanent because he got revived by Megatron. Plus this allowed the beef between Prowl and Megatron to break and them to be friends. I know that both Aftermath and Spitfire weren’t at first willing to side with everyone because the Chaos Terrans were against everyone and they didn’t want to be friends. But I am glad seeing that they know that the Autobots, Maltos and Terrans did everything just to revive them they were willing to help. I was sad to see Twitch to get injured again after she was blasted by the Executioners but I am glad that she was fully rebuilt by Wheeljack. Seeing Aftermath and Spitfire fighting alongside the Autobots and Terrans made me had hope that they were going to be good but in the end they didn’t decide to stay with everyone and to leave. Nice that Spitfire was able to join with Thrash and Robby to cause a distraction to the Quintesson Judge while Mo, Hashtag, Jawbreaker, Nightshade and Aftermath giving their energy to Terratronus. Now that was cool seeing Terratronus armored up with different parts of the Terrans, Malto and Aftermath to use against the Quintesson Judge. Robby using his Cyber Shield to stop the Quintesson blast that was cool moment and again the moment with Terratronus to defeat the Judge now that was really cool. So yeah in the end the Quintesson Judge is dead, Starscream is in custody and everyone is friends with Terratronus as a guardian to Earth. This was another great finale.
Not a lot of new characters were introduced this season so I will cover the two new characters that were introduced this season
Prowl – I really did like this version of Prowl. Besides IDW and G1 Prowl, this is one of my favorite version of the character. I am not sure if the show was basing him on IDW Prowl but I will say it felt like it. As I mentioned I did like the show making him a police officer/detective that was a nice thing to explore again. Also Prowl being the advisor to Optimus now that was cool. In his original G1 profile it was stated that Prowl was the military advisor to Optimus Prime as well as his second in command. However in G1 cartoon that idea was gone after the first three episodes. Sure in EarthSpark Elita is second in command but I am glad the aspect of Prowl being the advisor to Optimus was brought back. Plus I liked the idea of Prowl not being just a one off but he appeared in every episode after his debut which I liked. The beef he had against Megatron was a nice little storyline that eventually grew to where Megatron and Prowl eventually became friends in the finale. Another thing that I found interesting that Prowl didn’t really take an Earth base alt mode or a police car. Instead he was a Cybertronian car that was on the ground or he could be flying which I enjoyed that idea. Plus he when he flew with Cosmos in the finale was nice. My hope was to have Matthew Mercer as the voice of Prowl for this show but I have to say that Eric Bauza was a good choice for the voice of Prowl. I enjoyed his performance.
Quintesson Judge – It was cool to see another take on the Quintesson Judge. Much like G1, Energon and Cyberverse, this version was given a different variety of faces. But I think it kept the original style of the G1 faces and I think a little mixture of the Cyberverse faces. Plus I think this is the first full on female Quintesson Judge. Because in G1 and Energon it was male Judge. In Cyberverse and Earthrise there was a mixture of both male and female actress to voice the different faces. But EarthSpark was the first full female one which I found that interesting. Her being the main antagonist of the finale was a good choice. When she blasted the Quintesson Executioner that was a surprise that I didn’t see coming. Not much else to say but again a fun take on the Judge. Betsy Sodaro had a fun performance as the Quintesson Judge.
Overall EarthSpark keeps getting more and more enjoyable with each season.
Some questions that were left unanswered that I hope are resolved in the next batch aka season
Fairmaestro is still around and once again we barley know anything about him other than him being a magician and interested in Robby, Mo and the Terrans. Hopefully he will play a vital role in the next season and get more info on him and why he is interested in the Transformers
Prowl stated that there were still Autobots and Decepticons on Cybertron, so I guess it questions how many are still left on Cybertron
Since Shockwave and the Decepticons went back to Cybertron, does this mean they aren’t the threat next season and will the Autobots and Terrans return to Cybertron next season
Starscream is taken into custody and since he is the only one left on Earth will he side with Optimus, Megatron, the Autobots, Terrans and the Maltos or will he find his way back to Cybertron
Tarantulas is still out there so I would like to see him return in the next batch with a story that involves him and Prowl and to be similar to that of their IDW counterparts
Izzy is in custody and with the Quintesson Judge dead I wonder what this mean for her. Will she and Robby make amends where Izzy just remains as a human rather than a Quintesson or will she still be in prison.
And lastly since Aftermath and Spitfire are alive where do they go since there are no Decepticons left on Earth (besides Starscream), will they eventually fully side with the other Terrans or will the remain on their own