Stasis Pod
Rewatching post-G1 Transformers cartoons with analysis and fandom insights.
Stasis Pod Episode #420: Little Bot Peep/Trick or Treat
Hoist should be resting up to heal his injured arm, but who can rest when there are adorable sheep to save? Then the recruits go trick-or-treating! But wait, who is that ghost? Join us this week for the Rescue Bots Academy episodes “Little Bot Peep” and “Trick or Treat”!
Stasis Pod Episode #419: Fright At The Museum/Lucky Ducky
Heatwave takes the recruits to Milford’s museum – and Whirl is convinced the janitor is up to no good! And what did Horace Burns do to get his statue relocated to a museum!? Then, Cody gives Hot Shot a “lucky” toy duck to help him with a bad day! Join us this week for the Rescue Bots Academy episodes “Fright At The Museum” and “Lucky Ducky”!
Stasis Pod Episode #418: All At Sea/All Washed Up
Boulder takes the recruits on a trip to clean up underwater garbage, but can they stop being little chaos goblins for long enough to actually help? Then, the recruits try to get out of their chores by enlisting an incredibly cute cleaning robot, and it doesn’t go well! Join us this week for “All At Sea” and “All Washed Up”!
Stasis Pod Episode #417: Battle of the Bots/Medix Surprise
Hot Shot and Wedge compete to see if they can beat each other at the other’s specialty, but we’re too distracted by the Heroes of Cybertron cards. Then, can the recruits learn the very important lesson that sometimes you just gotta leave your poor autistic friend alone? Join us this week for the Rescue Bots Academy episodes “Battle of the Bots” and “Medix Surprise”!
Stasis Pod Episode #416: Go Team, Go!/The Secret of Flight
BLADES IS BACK! And he’s got a great idea to help the recruits work as a team: Cheerleading! Then he tries to teach Hot Shot some important lessons about flying. Good luck with that! Join us this week for the Rescue Bots Academy episodes “Go Team, Go!” and “The Secret of Flight”!
Stasis Pod Episode #415: The TX3000/The Big, Small Rescue
The recruits get a new rescue tool from Cybertron, and Hot Shot is too insecure to admit that he’s never used it! Then, the team is sent to a collapsing cave on a distant planet to save an alien plant that’s the last of its kind! But that plant kind of reminds us of someone… Join us this week for the Rescue Bots Academy episodes “The TX3000” and “The Big, Small Rescue”!
Stasis Pod Episode #414: Tyrannosaurus Wrecked/Blame Game
A special guest teacher shows up at the Academy: It’s Grimlock, and he’s brought a whole pile of RiD2015 continuity with him! Then, Hot Shot learns how much he needs his teammates when he tries to do a rescue on his own! So is being scared of Dinobots racist, or is it more like being scared of goths? Join us this week for the Rescue Bots Academy episodes “Tyrannosaurus Wrecked” and “Blame Game”!
Stasis Pod Episode #413: Five into Four/Rescue Promo
When the recruits become convinced that someone’s about to be cut from the team, their determination to prove their worth only makes things worse! Then, Whirl tries to help Heatwave make a promo for the Academy, but nothing she records is good enough! What fandom meme gets a surprise nod? Join us this week for the Rescue Bots Academy episodes “Five into Four” and “Rescue Promo”!
Stasis Pod Episode #412: Mission Inaudible/Glitch
Hoist is put in charge of a training mission, but can he keep Hot Shot and Wedge from wrecking everything trying to out-Main Character each other? Then, the recruits have an all-too-real rescue mission in Griffin Rock, and Medix has an unconventional idea to save the day! But what were the grown-ups doing that was more important than this!? Join us this week for the Rescue Bots Academy episodes “Mission Inaudible” and “Glitch”!
Stasis Pod Episode #411: If At First…/Mount Botmore
The Academy kids want shiny new gadgets like the big bots have, so they get Hoist to invent some — but his prototypes need a lot of work! Then, the mayor has decided to carve the Rescue Bots’ faces into a mountain as a tourist attraction, and Hot Shot thinks he should be up there too! Can the team save Griffin Rock from his hubris? Join us this week for the Rescue Bots Academy episodes “If At First…” and “Mount Botmore”!
Stasis Pod Episode #410: Plan Bee/The Bot Who Cried Rescue
The recruits learn the importance of ecosystems in one of Boulder’s training exercises! Then, Wedge becomes obsessed with improving the team’s response times, but his constant false alarms do more harm than good! Seriously though, what’s going on with all those tubes!? Join us this week for the Rescue Bots Academy episodes “Plan Bee” and “The Bot Who Cried Rescue”!
Stasis Pod Episode #409: Tough Luck Chuck/Whirl’d View
When Hot Shot damages their training dummy, he’s on babysitting duty until the misbehaving drone can be fixed! Then, Whirl takes charge of rescue training in the woods, but how will they all deal with getting trapped by a snow storm? And what two bots does Whirl remind us of the most? Join us this week for the Rescue Bots Academy episodes “Tough Luck Chuck” and “Whirl’d View”!
Stasis Pod Extra #14: Marvel Lanterns
While Jen finishes settling into the new house, here’s Rob and David discussing which Marvel characters could join a Lantern corp!
Stasis Pod Episode #408: Rescue Bots Academy: “Recruits”
We’re heading back to the Aligned Universe for Rescue Bots Academy! Hot Shot has been asked by Optimus Prime himself to join the other Rescue Bot recruits on Earth, but is the hot-headed jock really cut out for rescue work? Can he at least manage to get along with his new classmates? And what is going on with Optimus Prime’s FACE!? Join us this week as we go back to school with “Recruits” part 1 and 2!
Stasis Pod Holiday Bonus: He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special
Happy Holidays, everyone! As a special surprise this week, here’s our December 2022 Patreon episode about the He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special!
Stasis Pod Episode #407: Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends: “The Crime of All Centuries”
Before we check back in on the Rescue Bots, we’re taking a side quest to the Savage Land for a timely visit to Kraven the Hunter! Can Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends stop the Hunter’s unnecessarily convoluted plan to create a dinosaur army? Which writer was clearly responsible for this episode? And what familiar song makes a surprise appearance? Join us this week for “The Crime of All Centuries”!
Stasis Pod Episode #406: Eruption
Cyberverse season 1 wraps up with a bang as Bumblebee’s tiny group of Autobots tries to awaken the Ark and the Autobots inside before Shockwave’s Decepticons can destroy it! Can we finally get a proper cast of characters for this series? Who Says The Thing? And how are we feeling about this season as a whole? Join us this week for “Eruption”!
Stasis Pod Episode #405: The Extinction Event/Awaken Sleeping Giants
Shockwave deploys a weapon that will wipe out all organic life on Earth! But how’s that supposed to help him defeat the Autobots, exactly? Then Windblade, Bumblebee, and Grimlock finally find the Ark in… exactly where we’d expect them to find it. Can they wake up the rest of the Autobots before the Decepticons get to them? Join us this week for the Cyberverse episodes “The Extinction Event” and “Awaken Sleeping Giants”!
Stasis Pod Episode #404: Siloed/King of the Dinosaurs
Windblade faces down Slipstream and her Seekers to escape from the missile silo and get back to the mission! Then, Windblade and Bumblebee find Grimlock, but he’s gone feral! Can they get him back under control? And did they just completely destroy a city’s electrical grid? That seems like a problem! Join us this week for “Siloed” and “King of the Dinosaurs”!
Stasis Pod Episode #403: Teletraan-X/Matrix of Leadership
Bumblebee and Windblade track down an autonomous backup of the Ark’s computer, Teletraan-X, but it’s bait in a Decepticon trap! When Bee escapes but leaves Windblade behind, can Teletraan-X help remind him what real heroism looks like? And does Teletraan-X even know where the Ark is? Join us this week for “Teletraan-X” and “Matrix of Leadership”!
Stasis Pod Episode #402: Maccadam’s/Sabotage
Bumblebee and Windblade go back to Bee’s memories of Maccadam’s bar on Cybertron, watching its descent into ruins as the war took hold. But wait, did Maccadam just give them a clue to finding the Ark? Then Shockwave tries to undermine their mission by corrupting Bee’s memories, but can the Decepticon convince him that he AND Optimus were both traitors? Join us this week for the Cyberverse episodes “Maccadam’s” and “Sabotage”!
Stasis Pod Episode #401: The Kind-Of Anniversary Spectacular
Episode numbers are an arbitrary thing, so this week we’re celebrating 400-ish episodes with a discussion of where Transformers has been, what it’s doing now (Hello Transformers One!), and where it’s going! We’ll be back with Cyberverse next time, but this week, join us for our Kind-Of Anniversary Spectacular!
Stasis Pod Episode #400: Terminal Velocity/Shadowstriker
This week on Stasis Pod: Bumblebee does some unguided deep-diving into his memories and finds something pretty damn traumatic, then Windblade helps him remember why Shadow Striker hates him so much. But isn’t it a little cringe to have Bumblebee as your nemesis? And what the hell just happened on Velocitron!? WHY DOES THE EPISODE END LIKE THAT!? Join us this week for the Cyberverse episodes “Terminal Velocity” and “Shadowstriker”!
Stasis Pod Episode #399: Megatron Is My Hero/Cube
Windblade helps Bumblebee remember why Megatron and his Decepticons are their enemies, then they reminisce about their first meeting at a Cybertronian sporting event! Just how damaged IS our Bee buddy? Shouldn’t a Transformer sport involve more transforming? And how many times can we say “THE CUBE!” in a Hugo Weaving voice? Join us this week for “Megatron Is My Hero” and “Cube”!
Stasis Pod Episode #398: The Journey/Whiteout
Bumblebee remembers an important part of the Ark’s journey, then Windblade follows the clues and ends up in a fight with some Seekers! So what exactly is the deal with Cyberverse Grimlock? Can Bumblebee resist the urge to press the big red button? And why does the cake taste like chicken? Join us this week for “The Journey” and “Whiteout”!
Stasis Pod Episode #397: Memory/Allspark
Windblade and Bumblebee have a run-in with some Seekers that leaves them with a new ship! But can Windblade fix Bumblebee’s memories? Can Bumblebee stop pressing all the buttons? And wait, are those emojis in the episode titles? Join us this week for “Memory” and “Allspark”!
Stasis Pod Episode #396: Fractured
This week, Stasis Pod is heading into the Cyberverse! What sets this series apart from the other Transformers shows we’ve discussed so far? What does it have in common? And can Bumblebee needing a babysitter actually carry the whole season? Join us this week for an intro to Cyberverse and the first episode, “Fractured”!
Stasis Pod Episode #395: “Et Tu, Cy-Kill”
Before we move on to our next series, we’re looking back at The Transformers One We Have At Home – not “War Dawn” (yet), but the historic story of the falling-out between Leader-1 and Cy-Kill of the GoBots! Were these two old friends ever as gay as Orion Pax and D-16? Which writer did his history homework? And why were there flying monkeys? Meet us in the Hall of Columns this week for “Et Tu, Cy-Kill”!
Stasis Pod Episode #394: Transformations
The AI Morocco has control of the training center, but he needs an edge against the Rescue Bots — he needs a human partner! Can Cody’s family get back to Griffin Rock from their worldwide assignments in time to save him from the evil AI’s grip? And are they really going to have to split up the team after all this? Join us as we say goodbye to the Rescue Bots (for now) with “Transformations”!
Stasis Pod Episode #393: Upgrades
Optimus Prime has decided it’s time for the Rescue Bots to be split up for new assignments— so it’s a bad time for the Mini Morocco to show up! Can they keep him from souping up his new MorBot despite being assigned all over the world? Can Cody convince his dad he’s old enough for a partner of his own? And which Rescue Bot is big in China? Join us this week as we near the end of Rescue Bots (for now) with “Upgrades”!
Stasis Pod Episode #392: A Brush with Danger
Movie star Maven Danger has come to Griffin Rock to research a new role, but the Burns Family finds that he’s not as competent as he seems on the screen! Can they solve a series of strange crimes with him tagging along? Which bot is regretting their choice of altmode? And how many Bond movie title jokes can this episode contain? Join us this week for “A Brush with Danger”!
Stasis Pod Episode #391: Family Business
Cody needs to pick a specialty for the Junior First Responder Jamboree — law enforcement, firefighting, or EMT — and everyone in his family is ready to weigh in! Which path will he take? Can Graham and Boulder make an engineering camp seem appealing? And what sentence did we never think we’d say? Join us this week for “Family Business”!
Stasis Pod Episode #390: To Infinity… And Back
Dani is heading off on a test flight to SPACE! And all kinds of things go wrong! Can the Rescue Bots help her before she crashes into the MOON? Can Blades get a grip on his attachment issues and accept her taking a full-time test pilot job? And when did Kade get so weird? Join us this week for “To Infinity… And Back”!
Stasis Pod Episode #389: Cody’s 11
Madeline Pynch has found a chunk of Energon, and it’s up to the Rescue Bots and the Burns Family to stage a heist to steal it back before it explodes! Can Chase get his head around the moral complications of stealing from villains? What does Kade mean that he “doesn’t believe in Ferris wheels”? And what was the best Jim Varney movie? Join us this week for “Cody’s 11”!
Iacon Underground Radio – May 17 2024 – Too Much Popcorn
We continue to be back! This week Jen and David talk about the 40th anniversary theater event, slam that Buy button on a new Straxus toy, dread having to fight off Hot Wheels collectors for a little diecast Bumblebee, and hoist a Jolly Rodger that’s also a bat! BUCKETS!!!
Iacon Underground Radio – May 10 2024 – We’re Back!
THE NEWS POD IS BACK! This week Jen and David discuss super-fancy Rodimus, explain why GaoGaiGar is Transformers-adjacent, touch briefly on the Energon Universe, and have a lot of thoughts about the Transformers One trailer! Welcome back to Iacon Underground Radio!
Stasis Pod Episode #388: The Need for Speed
A WILD SIDESWIPE APPEARS! Mischevious Cyclone Mini-Con Bounce is on the loose in Griffin Rock, and he’s writing rude Cybertronian graffiti all over the place! Can Sideswipe actually be a team player for once and help the Rescue Bots catch him? Can Blurr convince Sideswipe to get him on the Bee Team? And how well would Strongarm get along with Chase? Join us this week for “The Need For Speed”!
Stasis Pod Episode #387: Once Upon a Time
Mysteriously falling spruce trees, a missing Mrs. Neederlander, and a trapped Taylor draw everyone into a series of fairy-tale adventures in the forest, but are actual fairies really behind it all? What deep concerns are raised about Cybertronian culture? And can Kade get a creative writing project out of it? Join us this week for “Once Upon a Time”!
Stasis Pod Episode #386: Camp Cody
Blades and Cody are ready to graduate from Lad Pioneers to Teen Pioneers, but to get his final badge, Blades is going to need to go to the mainland in a holographic human disguise! Can he maintain his cover when they’re faced with an unhinged camp counselor named Chickadee? What trauma made Graham drop out of the Pioneers? And which of us actually went to scout camp as a kid? Join us this week for “Camp Cody”!
Stasis Pod Episode #385: Uninvited Guest
When Bumblebee lands at the Rescue Bots’ Training Center, it’s a chance to catch up on all that’s happened in the last few years, including his new voice! But his ship’s got a hitchhiker in the form of a hatchling Energon eater, and it’s on the loose! Can they catch it before it drains the whole team? Can Blades come to terms with his friend’s big changes? And how many stories are tagged “BumbleBlades” on AO3? Join us this week for “Uninvited Guest”!