Today feels like a good day for me. I finished the last of my G.I. Joe Field Manual--Appendix articles for the G.I. Joe fanclub magazine. They're kind of like the Ark Addendum articles I post here, only official and for G.I. Joe. It should see print some time around April or May. I also watched the fourth episode of season 2 of The Shield and chortled to myself when Wagenbach said that today is a good day for Gamblers Anonymous, what with it being two days after the Superbowl. Funny timing, that.
So, to get to the meat of the post, here's part one of
Atlantis, Arise!. It's one of the sillier episodes, with the Sub-Atlantican race teaming up with the Decepticons. I feel like it'd be really hard for a modern TF series to indulge in this level of silliness.
2 comments:
Silly or not, this episode did show a different facet of Starscream's personality than we normally think of him having. Here, he's not actively scheming to usurp Megatron's command but is busy doing his best to further the Decepticons' goals, counter the Sub-Atlanticans' treachery, and even rescue his commander from getting shot in the back! Yet, what's his reward? Plenty of verbal abuse from Megatron (the ingrate).
It's kind of hard to blame Starscream for being so rebellious and treacherous when he keeps getting punished for doing his job as Megatron's second-in-command. What Megatron basically wants is a thug he can control, who will do as he's told and not think for himself. What Megatron needs, however, is someone like Starscream, who can think for himself, isn't afraid to tell his commander he's out of his gourd, and can take an alternate route to further the Decepticons' agenda when necessary. But what can we expect from a psychopath like Megatron? He can only understand things in relation to himself, so sees Starscream's stubborn independence as an attack on himself instead of a necessary check and balance.
Interesting perspective Roadstripe.
There were more then a few episodes where Starscream wasn't scheming or didn't actively question Megatron. I think if he had done that every episode Megatron would have destroyed him. If I were to rationalize why Megatron 'put up' with Starscream's shenanigans, it would probably be because Starscream was somewhat more proficient then the other Decepticons, because he was so ambitious.
In my opinion though, the leadership role to Starscream was this abstract unattainable thing that he wanted simply because it was important, not because he understood it. As smart and ambitious as he was, he was never going to be the leader Megatron was.
As for Megatron being a sociopath, I'd argue Starscream is too and for that matter many if not most Decepticons. Just saying.
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