Velocity (episode)

Investigating a mysterious race car, Bumblebee gets involved with an illegal underground street racing circuit, which also captures the attention of the Decepticons.

Synopsis

On the highways of Detroit, the Autobots are driving under the moonlight, searching for an AllSpark fragment. As Bumblebee complains about the boring nature of their task, several cars speed past them. Bulkhead recognizes them as racers for Street Demon, a show he and Sari watch. Calling them amateurs, Bumblebee decides to show off and speeds ahead. As he boasts, a blue racer comes in and rams two drivers off the road. Bumblebee wants to go after him, while Prime says that the drivers need help. Still, Bumblebee pursues, discovering that the car is quite fast. As the Autobots render assistance, Captain Fanzone arrives and arrests the two drivers. Bulkhead is shocked to learn that the Street Demons are on an illegal racing circuit, while Bumblebee rolls up, transforms, and falls down, breathing heavily...somehow.

Back at the plant, Bumblebee thinks that he can beat the blue racer with his turbo boosters. Prime and Ratchet refuse, and Bumblebee shouts that nothing on Earth is faster than him. This train of thought leads Bumblebee to the conclusion that the blue racer is a Decepticon. Prowl points out that the racer was uninterested in the Autobots, and Prime orders Bumblebee not to use the boosters. Meanwhile, Bulkhead comes down on Sari over Street Demon, but Sari says that they're not helping the illegal show in any way, since she's pirating the signal. As Bulkhead laments about how the Autobots need to set a good example, Bumblebee walks in and smooths things over, saying that he'll straighten out Sari. Once Bulkhead is out of audio sensor range, Bumblebee has Sari show him the races. He asks her to track down where the broadcast came from, and with the help of the AllSpark Key, he finds out where they are.

At an irrigation channel, Bumblebee, having taken his turbo boosters, joins in a training race, finally getting the hang of his boosters. Seeing what is going on, Master Disaster, the host of Street Demon, uses some sort of remote control to send out the blue racer to attack Bumblebee. Finally getting tired of being attacked, Bumblebee transforms into robot mode, causing Master Disaster to call off the attack. Instead, Disaster invites the Autobot to participate in the next race. Bumblebee agrees, on the condition that blue racer is present. As Bumblebee rolls out, Disaster notes that with an Autobot racing, their ratings will triple...and get even higher if said Autobot were to suffer an "accident".

At the plant, Bulkhead brings Sari a cup of hot chocolate, but Bumblebee calls on her cell phone, revealing his misadventure and allowing Bulkhead to learn what is going on. Before he can further dig his own grave elaborate, Bumblebee stops short when he sees a plane— Blitzwing. Following the Decepticon, Bumblebee overhears Blitzwing communicate with Megatron about an AllSpark fragment he was tracking. Convinced it involves the blue racer, Bumblebee heads back to the plant. He tells Sari what is going on, only for Bulkhead to come down on Bumblebee for what he's doing. Bumblebee tells him about Blitzwing, the AllSpark fragment, and his suspicions about the blue racer being a Decepticon, insisting that he can only discover the truth if he races. Bulkhead agrees to allow it on the condition that he is brought along as well, but Bumblebee fibs. However, when Sari catches him going out, she forces him to take her...as Bulkhead listens in.

In an interrogation room, Fanzone questions one of the drivers. Using the threat of imprisonment, Fanzone learns that the next race will be at Dix and Vernor, and he intends to get there before the races begins...at which point he walks right into a door.

At the race site, Master Disaster is making the final preparations, when the AllSpark Key glows in the direction of Disaster's truck. Sneaking aboard, she finds the remote, then flees while Disaster announces the two-minute mark. As he reaches for the remote, he discovers what Sari did, forcing Bumblebee and Sari to escape. Thinking the race has started, the other drivers follow. As Bulkhead prepares to roll out and follow them, Blitzwing freezes the Autobot, then flies after the other two. Sari opens the remote and finds the AllSpark fragment, while Bumblebee detects Blitzwing. Seeing the flier, he dives through an arch, which Blitzwing freezes, cutting off the rest of the racers. Failing in his attempts to destroy Bumblebee from above, Blitzwing goes to tank mode, but is buried under rubble when he destroys a bridge support.

Meanwhile, Bumblebee sees Fanzone's car and tries to reach him. Fanzone is forced to jump into Bumblebee as Blitzwing destroys his car. As Blitzwing continues his strafing, Sari uses the remote to control Blitzwing, but it falls from her hands and out of the car. As they near another bridge, the blue racer crashes through the bridge's retaining wall and plays a game of Midair Chicken with Blitzwing. At first, Blitzwing is prepared to fight and die, but he turns away, crashing first into a building and then into Master Disaster's truck. Bumblebee deposits the two humans on the road, then goes to finish off Blitzwing, despite being vastly outsized and outgunned. Fortunately, the fight has brought them back to where the remote was. However, Blitzwing destroys a bridge above Bumblebee, also freeing Bulkhead. As Blitzwing prepares to deliver the killing blow, Sari uses the remote to control Blitzwing (as well as Bumblebee, who crashes into Bulkhead). Finally, Sari sends Blitzwing into high altitude. As Master Disaster tries to sneak away, Fanzone places him under arrest.

Back at the plant, Prime decides to store the remote in a safe place, while Bumblebee decides to set a better example for Sari—starting by ending her pirated satellite connection. As Sari jokingly warns Bumblebee not to set too good an example (lest she not recognize him), Bumblebee notices the blue racer speed past the plant. Bumblebee shouts out a "thank you", but is left wondering who the blue racer really is.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

Fanzone: I've been after them for weeks. They're part of an underground racing circuit.
Bulkhead: You mean they race in tunnels?
Fanzone: Underground as in illegal. As in they race in the streets and don't care who gets hurt.
Bulkhead: That's not what Sari told me.
Optimus: What purpose does this street race serve?
Fanzone: Eh, what else? They get a couple a' million pay-per-view customers for their pirate broadcasts, then it's "cha-ching cha-ching", big bucks.

—Captain Fanzone introduces the Autobots to the seedy world of underground racing.

Bumblebee: Lighten up, Bulkhead. We're supposed to be the fun bots, remember?
Bulkhead: Yeah, but we still gotta set a good example. She looks up to us.
Bumblebee: Hello, she looks up to everybody.
Sari: HEY!

—Bumblebee should be more sensitive about size issues.

"Uh oh. Goodbye traction . . . hello scrapheap!"

—Bumblebee about to be run down.

"Hey...you know that's comin' out of my paycheck."

—Captain Fanzone manages to see the down side of being saved before Blitzwing destroyed his car.

[referring to Bumblebee's vehicle mode]
"How come your interior's so much cleaner than mine?"
"Hmm, maybe 'cause it's not on fire?"

—Captain Fanzone gets zinged by Sari.

Hothead Blitzwing: Why can't I control myself?!
Random Blitzwing: Not zat I ever could! AHAHAHA!

—Blitzwing while under the remote's influence.

"Oh, dizzy. Not liking the dizzy."

—Random Blitzwing

"Well, that's the trouble with bending the rules—cough—they usually snap right back in your face."

—Lessons in life from Captain Fanzone

Hothead Blitzwing: Never give up!
Icy Blitzwing: Never surrender!
Random Blitzwing: NEVER MIND!!
[Blitzwing swerves off into a nearby building]

—Blitzwing and the mysterious racer play a game of Chicken.

Notes

Real-world references

• Wondering where Bumblebee came from, Master Disaster invokes the name of Detroit auto mogul Henry Ford (and also calls Bumblebee a "clown car").
• This episode borrows several plot and thematic elements from the popular street racing film The Fast and the Furious.
• Blitzwing's "Never give up! Never surrender! NEVER MIND!" quote refers to the catchphrase from the DreamWorks film, Galaxy Quest.
• Blitzwing haphazardly fires off multiple missiles in all directions in a style reminiscent of the Valkyrie Fighters from Super Dimension Fortress Macross.
• In this episode, Blitzwing's cannons make the familiar "high tension cable twang" normally associated with laser cannons in the Star Wars films.
• The first car that passes Bumblebee at the beginning of the episode resembles the 1999 Nissan Skyline from 2003's 2 Fast 2 Furious.
• Some of the scenes in this episode may be construed as parodies of Speed Racer.

Animation or technical errors

• Sari doesn't actually take off her seatbelt when she leaves Bumblebee's driver's seat to investigate Master Disaster's trailer. The whole shoulder-strap just moves with her, then we hear the sound of Bumblebee's door opening then closing.
• In the long overhead shot towards the beginning of the Bumblebee/Blitzwing chase (shortly after a wall of ice blocks the human racers off), Bumblebee does not get smaller as he moves further into the distance.
• When Bumblebee is stuck in some oil, he is unable to speed forward, even with his boosters. Yet, seconds later, he speeds backwards without a problem.

Continuity errors

• Hothead Blitzwing demonstrates the ability to function in jet mode, instead of automatically switching to tank mode as he did in "Megatron Rising - Part 2". His ice missiles are replaced with conventional explosive ones. Or maybe it was just Random who was in control at that moment?
• Bumblebee is using rocket boosters similar to the ones in "Nanosec," despite the fact they were destroyed and lost. It could be that Isaac Sumdac built him new ones, but given his absence and the fact that the replacements are never touched upon before hand, it seems unlikely.
• In "Megatron Rising - Part 1", Blitzwing freezes Ratchet, but he's able to break free a few minutes later. In this episode, when Blitzwing freezes Bulkhead, he cannot move.
• In "Nanosec", Bumblebee's boosters gave enough propulsion to match Nanosec in speed, so fast that he became a blur. In this episode, he is only on par with Blitzwing and cannot match the blue car even with the boosters. What gives?

Trivia

• Fanzone's car explodes. Again. At least we know where he gets the replacements.
• It seems that the Autobots have gained a better culinary understanding than they had in "The Return of the Headmaster" to the point where they know how heated cocoa powder in milk and hot water can be considered edible.
• This is the first episode in which a Decepticon is defeated by a puny organic.
• It's slightly odd that Optimus Prime and Fanzone chew out Sari and Bumblebee for hacking into pay-per-view broadcasts of illegal street races. It's not like the promoters deserve to profit from these broadcasts.
• It's also weird that Fanzone says he's been after the racers "for weeks," and yet Sari-"piece of cake"-Sumdac tracks them down the same night.
• This episode was adapted in comic book format using screen captures as half of "Transformers Animated Volume 9", with "Garbage In, Garbage Out" making up the other half.

Foreign localization

Spanish (Latin America)

• Title: "Velocidad" ("Velocity")
• Original airdate: 11 October 2008

French

• Title: "Velo-Cité" ("Velo-City")
• Original airdate: 12 October 2008

• Since "underground" can't be translated in both meanings for the scene, the dub writer chose something... strange. When Fanzone says "They're part of an underground auto racing network", Bulkhead answers "Oh, they're all Mexican drivers?", and Fanzone then says "Uh, underground means it's illegal".
• Blitzwing says "our readings", as if he was aware at that moment that he is "several" persons.

German

• Title: "Schneller als der Wind" ("Faster than the Wind")
• Original airdate: 21 July 2008

Italian

• Title: "I Demoni della Strada" ("The Speed Demons")
• Original airdate: 14 February 2009

Japanese

• Title: "Shichōritsu Race!" (視聴率レース!, "Ratings Race!")
• Original airdate: 14 August 2010

Polish

• Title: "Prędkość" ("Velocity")
• Original airdate: ???

Portuguese

• Title: "Velocidade" ("Velocity")
• Original airdate: ???

Home video releases

DVD

👁 United States of America
2009 — Transformers Animated — Season Two (Paramount) — English and Spanish audio.
👁 Australia
2009 — Transformers Animated — Volume Five: Fistful of Energon (Paramount) — English and German audio.
👁 United Kingdom
2009 — Transformers Animated — Volume Five: Fistful of Energon (Paramount) — English and German audio.
👁 Germany
2009 — Transformers Animated — Volume Fünf: Der Doppelte Starscream (Paramount) — English and German audio.
👁 Japan
2010 — Transformers Animated — Vol. 5 (Paramount) — Japanese audio only.
👁 Australia
2014 — Transformers Animated — Season Two (Madman Entertainment)
👁 United States of America
2014 — Transformers Animated — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)