Transformers: Animated (TV Series) Along Came a Spider (2008) User Reviews

Flashbacks abound as angry techno-organic Transformer Blackarachnia arrives to stalk the Autobots....

[curseyouheman · 9/10 · 19 March 2010]

It's the Autobots' first Halloween, and obligatory human-child companion Sari Sumdac is getting them into the spirit of the season. Optimus Prime is feeling distracted, though, and as Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Sari head out to go trick-or-treating (in vampire, ghost, and classic-series Optimus costumes, respectively), we're treated to a series of flashbacks to his early days in the Autobot Academy, when he, the pompous Sentinel, and power-mimicking Elita-1 snuck out onto a restricted-access planet in search of an abandoned Decepticon vessel- and the Energon cache that presumably remained inside. After a vicious skirmish with giant spider- like creatures and a hurried retreat which led them to their original goal, the trio were almost home free(minus the Energon, in favor of running more quickly) when Elita-1 fell behind and was seemingly destroyed when the Energon blew up. Prime's brooding is interrupted when Bumblebee calls him up with a request for help; Sari, 'Bee and Bulkhead are being followed by a giant spider-like creature...As Optimus rolls out, the spider-thing reveals itself as the surprisingly curvaceous Blackarachnia, incapacitating the costumed Autobot duo. When Prime arrives, she sends him careening across the street, then takes off with Sari. In a showdown on the rooftops, Blackarachnia reveals herself to be Elita-1, now a half-organic "freak" due to her desperate attempt to survive by "copying" the spider-things' abilities on that fateful day we've been revisiting. She's come for Sari's Allspark Key, with which she plans to purge herself of her organic components, becoming normal once more. Her plan backfires, though, and it turns out she can no longer survive without said components. Optimus saves her, but she states it'll be a long time before she'll trust an Autobot again, and makes good her escape with a nasty sting to Prime's chest. The episode concludes with Optimus sadly reflecting on his having (even mistakenly) abandoned his friend on that distant world, and the bitter creature that was once Elita-1 sobs quietly atop a night- shrouded building. All in all, the genuine angst balanced by occasional comic relief makes this a well-put-together tale that adds even more depth to already impressive characters.