Tunnel Vision

« Transformers: Prime ep 38 »
"Tell my Decepti-wife I hate her!!!" Hate means love to a Decepticon, of course.
"Tunnel Vision"
Season	2
No. in season	12
Production company	Hasbro Studios
Airdate	May 5, 2012
Written by	Andrew R. Robinson
Directed by	Shaunt Nigoghossian
Animation studio	Polygon Pictures
Watch this episode on YouTube

As Team Prime splits up to find the four Iacon relics simultaneously, Jack, Miko, Arcee, and Bumblebee go deep into New York's subways to beat Knock Out and an Insecticon to the first relic.

Synopsis

What, did the plague hit? Where the hell are all the people?

The Autobot team, having obtained the same coordinates for four Iacon relics as the Decepticons, plan their next course of action. Optimus suggests a dispersal so they can obtain all the relics simultaneously. Despite initial resistance from Arcee, the New York site and the relic contained beneath its streets are selected for Arcee and Bumblebee to scout. Miko volunteers her knowledge of subways and Jack his ability to cover for the mission; all four prepare to roll out.

Having moved away from Manhattan, Megatron assigns Knock Out the discreet task of obtaining the relic there. At a disadvantage without Breakdown, Knock Out is unwillingly appointed an Insecticon partner, along with a small detachment of Vehicon miners. Beyond frustrated with Knock Out's lack of concern beyond his paint job, Megatron sends them off.

In a New York alleyway, Arcee, Bumblebee, Jack and Miko bridge in. They quickly locate a construction site where they can enter the vast subway network. As they walk, Bumblebee nearly steps on a third rail, but Jack warns him of the danger just in time. A familiar sound echoes through the tunnels—a Decepticon drill, which Miko pinpoints the direction of. She tears off through an access tunnel, Jack in tow. On the other side, they are confronted by Vogel, a sweeper train operator, and Miko constructs a hasty lie that saves their tail. He offers to take them for a ride.

Don't do the stanky leg.

Vogel's personality soon becomes clear as he recounts tales of monsters that creep through the subways—including the mole men, who he believes are amassing their armies. Miko and Jack make an escape jumping off the back of the train, Vogel totally oblivious.

Arcee and Bumblebee find Knock Out and the miners, but don't see the Insecticon creeping up behind them. It attacks the duo, alerting Knock Out to their presence. Arcee and Knock Out exchange blows while Bumblebee occupies the Insecticon; Arcee makes a grab for the relic, but is knocked out by an electron prod to the back. Bumblebee is also quickly floored by the Insecticon. Satisfied, Knock Out cracks the relic's packaging and prepares to field-test the device on his new subjects. 

Stay away from the cookie jar.

While bickering with Jack in the tunnel about his sojourn to Cybertron, Miko inadvertently reveals that she feels like she doesn't contribute enough to the team. The two are stopped in their tracks by the sound of footsteps. It's Vogel, none too happy about being ditched. Miko, capitalizing on the man's conspiratorial bent, gets Jack to tell him the truth. Vogel is enthralled and they all board his train to find their friends.

Knock Out's field test is interrupted by the arriving sweeper. The Insecticon sidesteps it, but Knock Out is hit and dragged a distance between the wall and train, suffering serious cosmetic damage. Arcee and Bumblebee, now conscious, start fighting back as Knock Out peels out with the relic. Arcee goes after the train with the Insecticon following while Bumblebee chases after the fleeing medic.

On the train, Vogel reveals that the brake line went out and that their course is for a dead end. Arcee is able to catch up with the train and jump onto the back of it. Informed of the approaching wall, she drives ahead for the turn switch. Trying to change the tracks, she snaps the lever, forcing her to change the track alignment physically. She succeeds just in time and with the train safe, she faces her foe. Recalling Bumblebee's previous encounter, Arcee lures the Insecticon into touching the third rail, which instantly kills it. 

Vogel can't keep running people over. He's not famous enough to get away with it.

Knock Out faces off against the Autobot scout in a chase. Bumblebee accidentally activates the relic during a tussle which clamps onto his wrist. The train barrels in and heads straight for an oblivious Bumblebee, whom it passes right through without a scratch. It instead strikes Knock Out, grinding his face and body on the pavement for a good distance before the train comes to a stop. Horrified at his total cosmetic disfigurement, he flees, minus a wheel.

The relic is revealed to be a phase shifter, which allows the user to pass through solid objects. The problem turns to Vogel, who knows about the Cybertronians. A hasty call forces Fowler, who's now awake back at base, to deputize the worker as a "deputy of interstellar relations". Vogel is ecstatic about his new position even when he is told to maintain complete radio silence until he is called upon. As Vogel watches the Autobots and the kids leave, he ponders the idea of robots disguised as vehicles while looking at his sweeper train.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Well, I've actually been in subway stations. I grew up in a major metropolis. Unlike Mr. 'I've never been outside of Jasper, Nevada'."
"I have been to Cybertron."
"Cybertron doesn't have subways! ... Does it?"

—Miko's argument against Jack soon falls short.

Knock Out: "You have lovely features. Perfect for a painful little procedure I like to call the nip and tuck."
*Arcee dodges, and kicks Knock Out*
Arcee: "Dodge and kick."
*Arcee runs for the relic, but gets plugged in the back by Knock Out's prod*
Knock Out: "Shock and drop."

—Knock Out and Arcee carry on witty repartee.

"You scratch my face, I scratch yours!"
*Arcee and Bumblebee cock their blasters*

—Knock Out tries and fails to reference a previous episode.

*Vogel watches the Autobots and kids leave*
"Robots who turn into vehicles. Hmmm..."
*Vogel turns to look at his sweeper train*

—It's okay, Vogel, we've all done it before.

Notes

Continuity notes

• Agent Fowler is still recovering from getting zapped in the previous episode.
• Knock Out wants to retrieve the relic in memory of Breakdown.
• Megatron refers to Knock Out's "racing excursions". It seems that someone on the Nemesis (most likely Soundwave) informed Megatron of Knock Out's hobbies since their leader emerged from stasis.
• Miko's starting to hate trains.
• Knock Out refers to how Bumblebee was unable to transform in "Operation Bumblebee, Part 1".
• The phase shifter was alluded to in "Sick Mind" by Megatron when he was trying to figure out why he couldn't attack Bumblebee while they were in his subconscious, but he called it phase displacement armor instead.
• Near the end of the episode, Fowler appears to be communicating with someone, telling them to "dump that rock and come on home". A later episode will reveal that he is talking to Bulkhead.

Transformers references

• The Autobots receive help from a human labourer wearing a yellow hard hat.

Real-world references

• The zoom-in from the sweeper train to the dead end references the elevated train scene in Spider-Man 2.
• Jack's description of the third rail on subway trains is real, as is the fatality of touching it.
• Knock Out's "nip and tuck" line to Arcee is a colloquial phrase for cosmetic surgery.
• Jack claiming to be the "Face" and his explanation for it might be a resemblance to Templeton Peck from The A-Team, who was also mostly known as 'Face'.
• Vogel shouting "Welcome to Earth!" as he prepares to attack Arcee is an echo of when Will Smith's character in Independence Day punches an alien near the end of the movie.

Errors

• After the phase shifter attaches itself to Bumblebee, he stands straight up while inspecting it. However, his position is reversed when he stands: Knock Out is now in front of him instead of behind when the runaway sweeper train comes around the corner.
• The scratch marks from Knock Out's first encounter with the sweeper train seem to have disappeared after his transformation into vehicle mode onwards.
• Jack and Miko tell Arcee and Bumblebee to stay away from the third rail or they will be fried. However, they touch it multiple times throughout the episode, then Arcee uses it to kill the Insecticon.
• Vogel's fire axe ends up back on the wall without him actually putting it there.

Trivia

• This is the first episode that we see Knock Out mention his partner's death.
• There is a surprising lack of trains in the tunnels of New York. Not to mention humans on New York's streets.
• Insecticons are revealed to have blasters in their robot modes. Unlike most transforming guns seen so far, their blasters emerge from their forearms.
• In the first episode, the Autobots take on the burden of watching over and protecting the human children because they witnessed them in robot-mode or got caught in the crossfire of a Decepticon battle. Vogel, despite having the same "qualifications", is dispatched with a hasty cover story and left to fend for himself without Autobot protection. Apparently, you only get a "guardian" if you're tiny and cute.
• Vogel's name is most likely a reference to The Hub's Mike Vogel.

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "Aliens dans le métro" ("Aliens in the Subway")
• Original airdate: ?

German

• Title: "Im Untergrund von New York" ("At the Subsurface of New York")
• Original airdate: 12 November 2012

Japanese

• Title: "Dakkai Henkei! Daitokai Chika no Tatakai" (奪回変形!大都会・地下の戦い, "Recovery Transformation! Battle in the Metropolis Underground")
• Original airdate: 22 December 2012

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "Vida nos Tuneis" ("Life in the Tunnels")
• Original airdate: 18 June 2013

Italian

• Title: "Vista Tunnel" ("Tunnel Sight"). "Visioni nel Tunnel" (2017 airing, "Visions in the Tunnel")
• Original airdate: 23 October 2012

Home video releases

DVD

2012 — Transformers Prime — Season Two (Shout! Factory)
2013 — Transformers Prime — Vol. 19 (Avex Trax) — Japanese audio only.
2013 — Transformers Prime — Folge 9: Angriff auf Megatron (EDEL:kids) — English and German audio.
2013 — Transformers Prime — Volume 3: Weapons of Choice (Madman Entertainment)
2014 — Transformers Prime — Season Two Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2014 — Transformers Prime — Saison 2 Vol. 2: Nemesis Prime (Primal Screen)
2014 — Transformers Prime — Season 2 Vol. 2: Nemesis Prime (Primal Screen)
2014 — Transformers Prime — Stagione 2 Vol. 2: Nemesis Prime (Primal Screen) — English, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish and Norwegian audio.
2015 — Transformers Prime — Operation Bumblebee (Madman Entertainment)
2015 — Transformers Prime — Intégrale Saison 2 (Primal Screen)
2015 — Transformers Prime — The Complete Season 2 (Primal Screen)
2015 — Transformers Prime — La Seconda Stagione Completa (Primal Screen) — English, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish and Norwegian audio.

Blu-ray

2012 — Transformers Prime — Season Two (Shout! Factory)
2015 — Transformers Prime — Season Two Collection (Madman Entertainment)