Transformers Animated: Season 2

The Transformers Animated series continues to reinvent the venerable robot-action franchise in fresh and often inventive ways, as evidenced by the adventures compiled in its sophomore season. The action picks up directly after the conclusion of Season 1, during which the city of Detroit was leveled in a battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons. The cause of that fight--the AllSpark, source of life for all Transformers--was also destroyed, but all parties soon discover that the cube exists in fragmentary form in various locations around the globe. The recovery of these pieces naturally forms the crux of Season 2, though there is also the issue of The Key--the second greatest power in Transformers lore, and which currently resides in the precocious form of pre-teen Sari Sumdac. The Autobots must also concern themselves with protecting their precious human charge and worry about Starscream (voiced by Tom Kenney of Spongebob Squarepants), who harbors both a fragment of the AllSpark in his body and a long-simmering grudge against both the Autobots and Decepticons. If that sounds like a lot to digest, it's not--each episode neatly advances the central storylines while providing the required level of Transformers action and intrigue. The main strike against the show may be its overly stylized character design, which tends to rend humans in curious ways. That, however, should have only minimum impact on the show's core audience of younger viewers and franchise devotees. All 13 episodes of Transformers Animated's second season are contained in the two-disc set; a pair of commentaries on the final two episodes by the show's production team should prove interesting to those interested in the creative and conceptual aspects of the show. Viewers may find the two shorts on Disc 1, which take a decidedly offbeat approach to the characters, amusing or completely irrelevant. --Paul Gaita