This show is absolutely a surprise. I watched it out of curiosity, and I've been blown away by the clever writing. It's obvious that the writers are lovers of the Transformers lore and franchise. The show strays away from violence, even avoiding the word "death" or "die" whenever possible, but even though the show itself isn't that violent, it is obvious that the universe presented is connected to the universe opened up in Transformers: Prime and Transformers: Robots in Disguise, where peril exists, violence exists, and, most of all, Decepticons exist! In Rescue Bots, we get references to the Transformers lore that work as fun easter eggs for Transformers fans, as well as alluding the possibility of there being "more than meets the eye" to the world that is being presented. The references range from Unicron to Alpha Trion himself! The show even gives us fun movie references, such as E.T., Jaws, Back to the Future, and Aliens!
This show has such well written characters who have interesting personalities that get tested, strengthened, and even grown in the course of the three seasons the show has had so far. We have BLADES, afraid of heights but proving that he's brave enough to face his fears when others are in need. We have BOULDER, homesick for Cybertron but in awe of the wonders and beauty of Earth. We see HEATWAVE, the strong-willed and often arrogant leader of the Rescue Bots who grows fond of the Burns family and will put anyone's life before his own. Lastly, we have CHASE, a law enforcer who follows everything down to protocol, but learns to act on his own will as a Rescue Bot when protocol is not enough.
Along with the Rescue Bots, we have the Burns family, Kade, Cody, Dani, Graham, and Chief Burns, who work alongside the bots, teaching the Autobots while learning from them at the same time. The show demonstrates growth in the characters, both robot and human, while placing challenges and obstacles in their way that reveal vulnerabilities and flaws. No one is perfect, and children watching the show can see that not every person has good intentions, as several characters in the show want nothing but money and power (i.e. Dr. Morocco).
So, as a lover of storytelling and Transformers, I say that this show is perfect for young viewers and Transformers fans alike. Yes, Griffin Rock is the least safe city I've seen in a kid's show. I even nickname it "Murphy's Island", a reference to Murphy's Law, as every event going on in the show goes horribly wrong somehow, and literally nothing and no one is safe from danger. But the writing and character design separates Rescue Bots from shows like Transformers: Prime, which suffered from poor character writing and design (in my opinion). Who knows...maybe we'll get to see First Aid, a Protectobot from Transformers G1! Can't wait for season 4!
