Rediscovering Beast Machines

Every few years I like to go back and re-watch some of the old Transformers series just to re-familiarize myself with the shows and maybe view them in a new perspective. Today I thought I might give Beast Machines another try. Since the original airings, I've only watched this series one other time probably due to my strong feelings against it from when it first came out.

 The culture shock of being introduced to this show from such a strong presentation like Beast Wars was unsettling to say the least. I understood what the writers were trying to do, but I didn't want to accept it at the time because I saw Beast Machines (as many of us did) as the natural conclusion of the Generation One universe. I actually much preferred the "Wreckers" storyline presented by 3H near the same time which helped ease the pain/transition. Ultimately though, this show represents the end of the 'original' Transformers, without any of this re-booting and universe hopping that currently dominates the mythos.

 Watching the first episode again today brought back all of those feelings of betrayal and hatred that I felt as an angry little teenager. But I was also able to look past that and see the show a little differently. I can certainly appreciate the aesthetic beauty of the show, which was much more stylized and a little cleaner than Beast Wars. As I continue to watch, I hope to gain a new understanding of this story and accept it in a better light than I did twelve years ago. But I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around "I am Transformed!". Maybe I can just tune it out...