Recap / Transformers: Animated, S2E4: Garbage In, Garbage Out

"I don't suppose you can tell me what I am, funny green man?"
"You are... my partner-in-crime. They call me Angry Archer!"
"They call me 'worthless-wreck-walking-pile-of-garbage'!"
"Oh, really? Bit of a mouthful. Perhaps we should just call you 'Wreck-Gar' for short."

— Wreck-Gar and Angry Archer

An Allspark shard gives life to a robot named Wreck-Gar, who wanders around Detroit looking for his purpose. Meanwhile, an incident with someone's car leads to Ratchet having to work on his temper.

Tropes:

• Actor Allusion: "I am Wreck-Gar! I DARE to be stupid!"
• Affably Evil: Even during his team-ups with Angry Archer and Lugnut, Wreck-Gar's disposition remained ever-cheerful.
• An Aesop: Decide for yourself who you want to be instead of listening to other people.
• Appropriated Appellation: Wreck-Gar refers to himself as "worthless-wreck-walking-pile-of-garbage", based on the rude names people called him as he wandered throughout Detroit. Angry Archer thinks it's too long and shortens it to Wreck-Gar.
• Bait-and-Switch Comment: The city's on the line and Wreck-Gar is towering over Ratchet.
  Ratchet: All right, you've forced me to make the ultimate sacrifice, to do the one thing that requires more courage than anything I've ever had to do in my entire Autobot career! I... apologize.
  Wreck-Gar: Come again?
• Be Yourself: The moral Ratchet gives to Wreck-Gar.
• Blunt "Yes":
  Ratchet: You glitch-head! You're gonna destroy the whole city! You wouldn't dare do something THAT stupid!
  Wreck-Gar: I am Wreck-Gar! I dare to be stupid! I will destroy the whole city!
• Breather Episode: While the end of the episode does have significantly high stakes, it's a more comedic episode focusing primarily on the very silly Wreck-Gar.
• Character Development: Enforced upon Ratchet to learn to be a nicer person and develop social skills.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Wreck-Gar has no idea who/what he is, and is the definition of this trope. The fact that he's voiced by Weird Al further cements it.
• Cutting the Knot: After all the negotiations and stand-offs, Ratchet solves the garbage strike by telling Powell, Mayor Edsel, and the Mayor's assistant to make a deal or he's tossing them into the river.
• A Day in the Limelight: For Ratchet.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Downplayed, but Wreck-Gar really wants to find out what he is.
• Got Volunteered: Optimus thinks it's a good idea for someone to help Ratchet work on his people skills. Bumblebee and Sari laugh at the idea of someone getting stuck with that job before realizing that Optimus means them.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Downplayed. The people of Detroit are still upset with the Autobots for the damage that their fight with the Decepticons did to the city. However, like Optimus said, the various good deeds that the 'bots continue to do (not to mention the lives they save) are slowly turning people's opinions around (such as Spike and Carly flagging down Ratchet to ask for his help getting to the hospital. He's terrible about it, but still...)
• Insult Backfire: Ratchet cruelly declares Wreck-Gar is only good for one thing— GARBAGE! Wreck-Gar instead takes Ratchet's insult as a command and dumps garbage on him.
• It's All My Fault: Ratchet recognizes that it was bad attitude that caused this mess, so he takes it upon himself to fix it.
• Lampshade Hanging: Sari points out that Ratchet is obviously too cranky when even Fanzone looks friendly by comparison.
• Mythology Gag: Many to Transformers: The Movie, where the first Wreck-Gar debuted.
  • When Wreck-Gar is throwing various objects at Ratchet and Bumblebee, his G1 counterpart's altmode is among one of the things he throws.
  • When Lugnut activates his P.O.K.E., Wreck-Gar mistakes it for the universal greeting.
  • As mentioned above with Actor Allusion, "Dare to be Stupid" is referenced, with the song being associated with the Junkions from the movie.
  • Wreck-Gar's eyes turn red when he threatens to destroy the city, as a nod to his G1 counterpart's toy commercial.
• Never Found the Body: At the end of the episode, Ratchet assumes Wreck-Gar is dead after he falls into the river because all he managed to fish out was trash. The end of the episode reveals that he is in fact alive, just buried up to his head at the bottom of the river.
• Not So Above It All: Prowl smirks when Bumblebee and Sari get volunteered to help Ratchet work on his people skills.
• Officer O'Hara: Wreck-Gar meets one of these in his quest to find out who he is.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: When Lugnut goes on and on about how he'll retrieve the new fragment, a frustrated Megatron says, "Just. Go!"
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: When Wreck-Gar threatens to destroy Detroit, his eyes temporarily start to glow red.
• Shout-Out: At the end of the episode, Ratchet quotes Sally Field's Oscar acceptance speech.
  Ratchet: They like me. They really like me!
• Suddenly Shouting:
  Ratchet: You're only good for one thing- GARBAGE!
  Wreck-Gar: I am Wreck-Gar! I am only good for one thing- GARBAGE!
• Tearful Smile: Wreck-Gar begins to tear up happily when telling Ratchet he knows what he is.
• This Is Gonna Suck: After Lugnut crashes.
  Bumblebee: Guess that takes care of both our problems.
  Ratchet: Not really. If those AllSpark-infused microbots could eat through a Decepticon—
  Sari: Imagine what they'll do to downtown Detroit!
• Twitchy Eye: Megatron's eye twitches while listening to Lugnut blather on.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Ratchet complains he doesn't get so much as a thanks from the couple with a pregnant wife after he gave them a lift.
• Villain Team-Up: Wreck-Gar temporarily goes under two separate ones with Angry Archer and Lugnut. They don't really work out.
• Why We Need Garbagemen: The episode takes place during a contract dispute between Sumdac Systems (which builds and maintains the city's trash collection robots) and the city of Detroit, resulting in the robots malfunctioning and garbage piling up all over town. Ratchet winds up having to yell at Porter C. Powell and Mayor Edsel to meet each other halfway – lest he chuck them both in the water – to resolve the crisis.
  Ratchet: Listen up, you organic meat buckets! Either you settle this garbage dispute here and now, or I will dump you both in the river! GOT IT?!

---