Machinima Transformers Titans Return Episode 5 REVIEW

This was easily the worst episode yet.

The dialogue between Hot Rod and Windblade was atrocious. Terrible writing, probably made worse by that stupid face mask of Hot Rods.

A bunch of lasers fired by Fortress Maximus can't stop Trypticon. But Hot Rod is able to blast a hole into his side with his little hand gun. Yeah, okay, whatever.

The only thing I did enjoy was the background music. They've nailed the 80's style well.

Bronzewolf wrote:
Hey, guys? Yeah, Godzilla Vs. Gigan Megalon called. They want their campiness back.

fix'd that for ya . But truly, Godzilla did a goofy dive very similar to this in Godzilla X Megaguirus (2000)

Oh yeah, and I forgot the moment when Hot Rod breaks out of Trypticon's eye (callback to TFTM), we see glass shatter, but the eye stays in tact...wait...what???

o.supreme wrote:

Bronzewolf wrote:
Hey, guys? Yeah, Godzilla Vs. Gigan Megalon called. They want their campiness back.

fix'd that for ya . But truly, Godzilla did a goofy dive very similar to this in Godzilla X Megaguirus (2000)

I just finished Megalon! Hilariously campy.

So is the sole purpose of Hot Rod's face mask, they don't have to match lip flaps to sound?

The series has been a big improvement over CW, but I still can't get over the terrible lip sync and "conversations" being made between the characters.

I'm just amazed at how bad the writing and voice direction is for Hot Rod. I'm really shocked that we're listening to Judd Nelson, the same guy who's done Hot Rod in TFTM and TF Animated... and it's just horrendous. It's like he's tired / bored.

karyuudo wrote:I'm just amazed at how bad the writing and voice direction is for Hot Rod. I'm really shocked that we're listening to Judd Nelson, the same guy who's done Hot Rod in TFTM and TF Animated... and it's just horrendous. It's like he's tired / bored.

Exactly! He sounds so bored, Cullen sounded pretty lifeless, JDF isn't being allowed to emote... Perceptor is the only one who is fully expressive, although I'll grant Windblade and Overlord have some expression. The voice direction is just awful, and the awkward pauses in conversations aren't helping.

It's like this show is getting better and worse at the same time.

Oh good, I wasn't the only one who was reminded of Food Fight. Wait no, that's a bad thing!

This is an "eh" episode for me. I wish the voice work was better, because this would've been twice as better (and funnier) if it had. The animation is pretty, tho. Except...

Bronzewolf wrote:Overlord arrives on the scene, and starts threatening the injured Hot Rod. As he talks, he makes the most bizarre movements in both Combiner Wars or Titans Return. He flails around like something out of Food Fight. I shouldn't be reminded of Food Fight when watching your TV show/Movie. Just as kind of a general rule.

I hate you. I forgot that existed. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.

Kidding, or course. Keep up the good work!

Haha, Food Fight. I was totally expecting Overlord to just randomly pirouette mid-strut.

Noideaforaname wrote:Haha, Food Fight. I was totally expecting Overlord to just randomly pirouette mid-strut.

Charlie Sheen is best Overlord.

Nexus Knight wrote:This is an "eh" episode for me. I wish the voice work was better, because this would've been twice as better (and funnier) if it had. The animation is pretty, tho. Except...

Bronzewolf wrote:Overlord arrives on the scene, and starts threatening the injured Hot Rod. As he talks, he makes the most bizarre movements in both Combiner Wars or Titans Return. He flails around like something out of Food Fight. I shouldn't be reminded of Food Fight when watching your TV show/Movie. Just as kind of a general rule.

I hate you. I forgot that existed. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.

Kidding, or course. Keep up the good work!

Okay, I've seen it mentioned a couple of times now... What is Food Fight?

Rodimus Knight wrote:

Nexus Knight wrote:This is an "eh" episode for me. I wish the voice work was better, because this would've been twice as better (and funnier) if it had. The animation is pretty, tho. Except...

Bronzewolf wrote:Overlord arrives on the scene, and starts threatening the injured Hot Rod. As he talks, he makes the most bizarre movements in both Combiner Wars or Titans Return. He flails around like something out of Food Fight. I shouldn't be reminded of Food Fight when watching your TV show/Movie. Just as kind of a general rule.

I hate you. I forgot that existed. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.

Kidding, or course. Keep up the good work!

Okay, I've seen it mentioned a couple of times now... What is Food Fight?

Oh, young padawan. You have much to learn.



I recommend reading or watching something about the history of this film. This cost $65 Million to make, was delayed for over a decade, and the finished cut was stolen, so they had to redo everything over again.

I also recommend one of these three reviews. Extremely funny, and the movie really needs to be seen to be believed.

I just wish the tumbler version of it was not so fraggin cut off. It feels like I am missing stuff. But for what it is, its okay. Although it sounds like they are talking into coffee tins.

So I may be projecting out a bit but... The only way to own CW right now is as a bonus feature on the Target exclusive release of the Blu Ray of TF:TLK. I was thinking Hasbro might do the same for TR. However that becomes problematic in that the Bumblebee Movie isn't scheduled in theaters until 12/21/18, making for a Spring 2019 home media release. If we assume the PotP animated series will be late 2018 or early 2019 (now that I think about it...probably early 2019 by their schedule)...that means that it's end will probably coordinate near the release of the Bumblebee Movie on home media. Maybe it will include both series as bonus features? Or maybe...Hasbro will gives us one super craptacular special Blu Ray set with all 3 series included in its own release!?!...

I hope for a super craptacular Blueray general release. It annoys the slag out of me I cannot find it anywhere, and the tumbler site cuts it off.

Bronzewolf wrote:

Rodimus Knight wrote:

Nexus Knight wrote:This is an "eh" episode for me. I wish the voice work was better, because this would've been twice as better (and funnier) if it had. The animation is pretty, tho. Except...

Bronzewolf wrote:Overlord arrives on the scene, and starts threatening the injured Hot Rod. As he talks, he makes the most bizarre movements in both Combiner Wars or Titans Return. He flails around like something out of Food Fight. I shouldn't be reminded of Food Fight when watching your TV show/Movie. Just as kind of a general rule.

I hate you. I forgot that existed. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.

Kidding, or course. Keep up the good work!

Okay, I've seen it mentioned a couple of times now... What is Food Fight?

Oh, young padawan. You have much to learn.



I recommend reading or watching something about the history of this film. This cost $65 Million to make, was delayed for over a decade, and the finished cut was stolen, so they had to redo everything over again.

I also recommend one of these three reviews. Extremely funny, and the movie really needs to be seen to be believed.

Where does one find this film to watch? I don't see it available on Amazon.
Sorry to be a pain, I feel the need to watch this now.
Saddly, far more then I feel the need to read the IDW comics.

Never mind, I just found it. I left it saw two words first time. Good news, its apparently available for free with Prime. Yay

Rodimus Knight wrote:

Bronzewolf wrote:

Rodimus Knight wrote:

Nexus Knight wrote:This is an "eh" episode for me. I wish the voice work was better, because this would've been twice as better (and funnier) if it had. The animation is pretty, tho. Except...

Bronzewolf wrote:Overlord arrives on the scene, and starts threatening the injured Hot Rod. As he talks, he makes the most bizarre movements in both Combiner Wars or Titans Return. He flails around like something out of Food Fight. I shouldn't be reminded of Food Fight when watching your TV show/Movie. Just as kind of a general rule.

I hate you. I forgot that existed. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.

Kidding, or course. Keep up the good work!

Okay, I've seen it mentioned a couple of times now... What is Food Fight?

Oh, young padawan. You have much to learn.



I recommend reading or watching something about the history of this film. This cost $65 Million to make, was delayed for over a decade, and the finished cut was stolen, so they had to redo everything over again.

I also recommend one of these three reviews. Extremely funny, and the movie really needs to be seen to be believed.

Where does one find this film to watch? I don't see it available on Amazon.
Sorry to be a pain, I feel the need to watch this now.
Saddly, far more then I feel the need to read the IDW comics.

On YouTube! Just search Food fight Full Movie!

Free on Amazon Prime:

https://www.amazon.com/Foodfight-Charli ... odfight%21?tag=seibertron07-20&

(Small nudge back on topic )

Sunstar wrote:I just wish the tumbler version of it was not so fraggin cut off. It feels like I am missing stuff. But for what it is, its okay. Although it sounds like they are talking into coffee tins.

Sunstar wrote:I hope for a super craptacular Blueray general release. It annoys the slag out of me I cannot find it anywhere, and the tumbler site cuts it off.

You could just watch it on KimCartoon instead of Tumblr's disappointing-for-you version.

Sunstar wrote: Although it sounds like they are talking into coffee tins.

So glad I'm not alone in being super bugged by this. I think it's part of what messes up the voice work (along with the writing)- I get the distinct feeling that the original recordings are probably way more genuine and emotive. The Mistress of Flame's death really took the cake on that front, the 'robotic' effect was so heavy that any pain or emotion in her voice was totally lost, just "who killed you?" "Oh it was overlord".
Granted some voices still shine through (though even megs wasn't quite as on form this episode imo) so it can't be the whole problem, but still

Here's episode 6 - https://www.go90.com/videos/9CFURVWNuQ6

Sabrblade wrote:Here's episode 6 - https://www.go90.com/videos/9CFURVWNuQ6

Honestly, Megatron's sarcasm is the highlight of this series

This episode gave us more combiner fighting than all of Combiner Wars and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Also, another combiner of combiners, but this time not an amorphous blob. So that's a plus.

Megatron is truly the highlight of this series.

Random thoughts-before the title card, did Megatron just flip Devastator on his ass -The most PC thing I can say is...I don't like Menasor's dialogue. The chorus of primes sound like the Zoanoids from The Guyver English dub. Oh no...Megatron tossing Devastator like a sack of potatoes...dear lord this has gone off the rails.
Emissary hooking up Windblade to an apparatus he knows she cant brake free from...DISCONNECT! DISCONNECT! Sorry.... This is all just not good. Reaching CW levels of bad again. But even CW had its ups and downs as far as individual episodes. I'm hoping next week will be better.

Also I don't think the combiners are merging into a single combiner, they just kind of disappeared to go fight Trypticon presumably (unless I missed something?). If however next episode we get a "combiner of combiners" somebody needs to fan mode that quickly. Of course a 5th combiner would make it much easier. Have Dev as the torso, and 4 "5 member" combiners as limbs. Something 11 year old me (and my 11 year old son now) would be totally amazed by.

"Why didn't you show us this before?"

Emissary, you only JUST arrived there with Windblade! How could you have possibly known what was going on between Megatron and the combiners before you got there? That line should have been said by one of the combiners, not you!

Another Tuesday, another episode of Machinima's Titans Return animated series! We're on to Episode 6 now, which, in complete honesty, is the worst one yet. But let's delve into the new episode and figure out exactly why! Here's Titans Return Episode 6!

We open with a (pretty cool?) shot of Trypticon, who's still raging through the city completely unopposed now with the death of Metroplex in the previous episode. This shot pans out to reveal Optimus Prime returning to the city, driving into the Basilica to meet Perceptor. We very quickly cut to the Combiners back at Fortress Maximus. They've just watched their laser beams disappear in the distance, headed toward "Metroplex City". The redundancy does not escape me. The combiners discuss their next plan, and have I mentioned that I hate Menasor's voice? Yeah, I hate Menasor's voice.


Megatron tells them that Metroplex City is a total loss, and the combiners respond by trying to beat the daylights out of him, calling him a "Betrayer" and a "Vile Traitor", etc. Didn't he help you just a little bit ago? You know, when Starscream took over your bodies? He helped rescue you! All the combiners are just so randomly hostile, it looks really strange. Megatron explains the Mistress of Flame has died, which just aggravates the Combiners more, as they believe he was the one who killed her.

Back at the Basilica, Perceptor and Optimus learn the same macabre fact, stumbling upon the Mistress' body in the Prayer chamber. They don't know who the killer was, as Perceptor gains no new evidence from studying her wounds. They leave her body in the prayer chamber, turning their attention to the more pressing matter of the Titan Dinosaur stomping though the city. They return to the basilica's controls. The dialogue here is clunky, again, as we've come to expect, but it just goes to show that most of the time errors like this aren't the voice actor's fault. A lot of times it's the direction they're given or the editing the tracks receive in post. You can have big celebrities like Wil Wheaton and voice acting legends like Peter Cullen and still have your dialogue be awkward.

Anyway, they finally get the Basilica's defenses up, and they attempt to slow Trypticon down.

This is just straight up Godzilla at this point.

They return to the chamber of Primes, where Hot Rod had given up the Matrix of Leadership, and we get more scenes with the Chorus of Primes. Yay.

"Asdkfhdlkierjml, jsdkfhguinegnkjfjg, Optimus Prime."

Yes, the Chorus of Primes returns to the series, just as indecipherable and completely non-understandable as the last time. Prime reclaims the Matrix from the chamber, once again truly becoming Optimus Prime.

The Combiners are still fighting with Megatron when Windblade and Emissary come in to save him, breaking up the fight. Brace yourselves, it gets really corny.

"What the Headlight are you Junkpiles doing?" Really? Really? You just said damn in the last episode, I don't think Hell is really off limits.

They demand to know who really killed the Mistress, and Megatron pulls up literally just footage from the last episode. Emissary questions why he didn't just show them this footage before, and while he definitely has a point, he and Windblade just arrived seconds ago. There is no way he knew what was happening.

Oh, look, Megatron downloaded Go90!

Victorion uses the Enigma of Combination, uniting the combiners again. They disappear, traveling to the city to help stop Trypticon. Then, for whatever reason. Windblade is hooked up to Fort Max. There is nothing mentioned about this leading up to it, if I remember correctly. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but this plan comes out of nowhere! She links with Fortress Maximus, and is appears something has gone wrong. Emissary yells for her to disconnect, but she doesn't hear him. On that cliffhanger, the Episode ends.

Oh God, she's regenerating! Who's going to be the next Doctor Windblade?!?

This episode really feels boring and drawn out. It made 11 minutes really feel like 20, and really started to look like a bad Godzilla/Kaiju overdub. Between the mostly-inaccurate mouth movements, bad timing and pacing, and, you know, the actual Kaiju. Don't get me wrong, it is still leagues better that Combiner Wars, but it still leaves much to be desired.

Thanks for reading my review of Episode 6. If you want to watch it yourself, you can find it over on Go90. Do you agree with me? Am I completely off base? Please let me know and share your thoughts down below! I'll see you next Tuesday with the release of episode 7!

I think no matter how improved this series is from Combiner Wars it’s still just gonna get sh$& on by people.

I liked it. It felt like the start of act 2 with some action and set up to further the plot.


I had a friend come over this weekend and we watched Combiner Wars which we agreed wasn’t great and we binged Titans Return and he loved it. He’s a casual fan. He doesn’t live in tf sites, keep up to date on everything and only collects stuff that appeals to him. He didn’t even know a new cartoon was happening outside of RID. He enjoyed it. Said it’s fun.

I'm not watching any of this!

Just waiting for Geewun Redone's sequel.


And if that doesn't happen then neither did this 2nd season...

Point proven

Randomhero wrote:I think no matter how improved this series is from Combiner Wars it’s still just gonna get sh$& on by people.

Because people suddenly can't dislike things?

Honestly dude, you've been on this site long enough to know better!

This episode was ... ahhh why bother with it? A lot of it made no sense. Especially Victorions desire to avenge Mistress of Flame, completely disregarding THE IMPENDING THREAT THAT IS TRYPTICON! You know, the impending threat THAT YOU WERE JUST TRYING TO STOP.

ugh ... this is bad fan wank.

I'm just going to say, everything about and with Megatron is the best thing about both series. I could watch a show just about him and I've fallen in love with this new voice actor and his take on him.

Randomhero wrote:I think no matter how improved this series is from Combiner Wars it’s still just gonna get sh$& on by people.

I liked it. It felt like the start of act 2 with some action and set up to further the plot.


I had a friend come over this weekend and we watched Combiner Wars which we agreed wasn’t great and we binged Titans Return and he loved it. He’s a casual fan. He doesn’t live in tf sites, keep up to date on everything and only collects stuff that appeals to him. He didn’t even know a new cartoon was happening outside of RID. He enjoyed it. Said it’s fun.

Nits gonna pick.

I can only complain so much about something I'm ultimately watching for free and know that over all is helping the franchise with notoriety and toy sales. So, more power to them. But then I've never been one who complained that much about any of the TF series. They are what they are. Could it be better? Sure, but not everything is TMNT, Voltron Legendary Defender, or the Legend of Kora.

How does it help toy sales though when the toy line is virtually finished?

Is there such a thing as an antithesis to "beating a dead horse"? Cuz saying how Megatron is the best thing about this show is pretty much that. We all know that he's great, that he's the one really good thing to come out of this show and its predecessor, but honestly that still doesn't speak much about the whole show itself since pretty much everything else that isn't Megatron (or, debatably, Foghorn Overlord), is still some degree of mediocre.

Sure, Titans Return isn't as mind-bogglingly bad as Combiner Wars turned out to be, but that's like saying how Suicide Squad wasn't as appallingly bad as Batman v. Superman was even though SS itself still wasn't that good in its own right.

Megatron is to CW and TR like what Wonder Woman (the character) was to BvS: One shining spot in sea of mediocrity (or more specifically in TR's case, a sea of indifferent, shrugworthy quality).

Ebonyleopard wrote:

Randomhero wrote:I think no matter how improved this series is from Combiner Wars it’s still just gonna get sh$& on by people.

I liked it. It felt like the start of act 2 with some action and set up to further the plot.


I had a friend come over this weekend and we watched Combiner Wars which we agreed wasn’t great and we binged Titans Return and he loved it. He’s a casual fan. He doesn’t live in tf sites, keep up to date on everything and only collects stuff that appeals to him. He didn’t even know a new cartoon was happening outside of RID. He enjoyed it. Said it’s fun.

Nits gonna pick.

I can only complain so much about something I'm ultimately watching for free and know that over all is helping the franchise with notoriety and toy sales. So, more power to them. But then I've never been one who complained that much about any of the TF series. They are what they are. Could it be better? Sure, but not everything is TMNT, Voltron Legendary Defender, or the Legend of Kora.

Helping the franchise with toy sales? Titans Return as a toyline is over. Sure, there are still some Wave 6 figures still hanging out on shelves, but of them, only Hot Rod is in the series. Overlord barely showed up at retail, and Wave 5 (with Windblade) had such spotty distribution that the easiest way to get it was to order online.

Much like the Combiner Wars cartoon before it, Titans Return is showing up after the toyline has effectively ended at retail. Which means the Power of the Primes cartoon should be showing up sometime in 2019.

To the review at hand......I don't even want to watch this episode. Just reading the summary made me cringe so bad that I don't want to subject myself to it. (Megatron picking up and tossing DEVASTATOR??)

Bounti76 wrote:To the review at hand......I don't even want to watch this episode. Just reading the summary made me cringe so bad that I don't want to subject myself to it. (Megatron picking up and tossing DEVASTATOR??)

Yeah that was.... a thing.


Also the combiners seem to actually be in scale with regular transformers in this episode, which ironically makes them seem small. Megatron easily comes up to Menasor's waist, much like the CW leader figure to the CW Menasor toy. Instead of being "enlarged" when they combine like in most fiction, the combiners are presented as about the sum of their parts.

Randomhero wrote:I think no matter how improved this series is from Combiner Wars it’s still just gonna get sh$& on by people.

Too bad I haven't heard much on actual improvement....

IDW's early ongoing books were proof that Hasbro can do wonders with TF lore if put in the hands of someone who gives a shirt. Instead they gave us more Bay crap and now a 2nd season of this!

Then they wonder why Marvel's movies and DC animated direct to video films are running circles around then these days!

It's pathetic!

And FYI the time spent watching last season was in no ways what I'd call "free".

King Kuuga wrote:

Bounti76 wrote:To the review at hand......I don't even want to watch this episode. Just reading the summary made me cringe so bad that I don't want to subject myself to it. (Megatron picking up and tossing DEVASTATOR??)

Yeah that was.... a thing.

Megatron throwing Devastator.PNG

YES.
I wanted to talk about this in the review, but I was already up to 5-6 paragraphs not even half way through the episode, so I cut it. So ridiculous, though.

I'm actually enjoying this show. I laugh at it all the time, even if you're not meant too. It's just so bad it's hilarious to watch.

You could turn on subtitles so you could understand the Chorus of the Primes.

Overall I am enjoying the series though much as I like Megatron, he's not as much fun in this.

I am enjoying Judd Nelson back as Hot Rod though I wish they'd get rid of the stupid face plate.

Menasor's voice is the most annoying thing I've heard since Energon Ironhide and Beast Wars Rattrap. He's always been my favourite Con Combiner and ignored for years by the franchise. We finally get him in the spotlight and they give him that awful voice.

What was the casting director thinking? Starscream and Overlord aren't great but no where near as bad as Menasor.

I will admit Combiner Wars is a guilty pleasure of mine.

Every Transformer series is flawed. After 30 years, I've learned to focus on the positives of each.

i dont get the problem with menasors voice. its not like he says that much anyway and ive heard ALOT worse in this franchises past. i suppose we should be happy hes not portrayed as a psychotic mess like his profile is meant to be. at least this way he's contributing.

the one voice ive a prob with is computron TBH. I keep missing half what he says. he's not chorus of primes bad, but not far off it.

oddly no prob with megs tossing devastator as he IS meant to be a badass. so as long as it something only he or a prime/grimlock type can do im ok with it.

TBH ive MORE of a problem that he doesnt seem to remember his ex leader. leastways you'd get no idea from how they interact. there should be at least some form if "oh its the old boss" reaction or something . hell in this continuity alone the individual constructicons used to hang out with him FFS as we saw in the arena fights in Combiner Wars. so there really should be more of a loyality/conflict there from the big dev.

We now have some more behind-the-scenes content regarding Machinima's Titans Return series, thanks to a new video posted over on the Transformers official Facebook page! The video features former Power Rangers Star Jason David Frank, who talks about his role as Emissary in the new show. The Green Power Ranger talks about what aspects of Emissary's character he likes the most, how he has a lot of personality for such a small bot, and more!

Find the full video down below, and continue the discussion in the Energon Pub forums! Remember to keep your optics and audio sensors tuned to Seibertron.com for all the latest Transformers news!

Devastator is a bit small in that scale slide isn't he?

padfoo wrote::?: Devastator is a bit small in that scale slide isn't he?

Well we don't really know how any of them stack up to Metroplex but in this show, Devy is about the same size as the other combiners, roughly twice as tall as Megatron, and let's assume Overlord is roughly the same size as Megatron too. So Devy is scaled right, and the giant Victorion is the combiner of combiners they all formed in this last episode.

Here is episode 7 - https://www.go90.com/videos/37rr2B0WBM6

Titled "Run For Our Lives"

That does not bode well.

Oh man, where do I even begin with this episode?

I must confess, that when the super-combiner Victorion appeared in front of Trypticon at this episode's start, I got the faintest, briefest, tiniest bit of excited that the obviously forthcoming fight between Vicky and Tryppy might possibly be something like the fight between Optimus Supreme and Unicron in the Energon cartoon, which was arguably the best and coolest part of that show. But, alas, what we got instead not only quick to kill any and all traces of that hint of excitement in me, but also served to illustrate the notion that Victorion in this episode is, both figuratively and literally, the biggest idiot this side of the known galaxy. And considering that her opponent right next to her was Trypticon of all people, that's saying something.

And it didn't hit me until after the previous episode came and went, but last episode's having Optimus get the Matrix back could have been the perfect opportunity for this episode to advertise one more toy in the Titans Return toyline (even if it would be so late in the game at this point) by having Optimus upgrade into his Leader class Powermaster Optimus Prime toy body. Once again, this episode missed the mark on that by having Optimus keep his normal look (Guess it would have been too expensive to create a whole new Optimus CG model on top of the one they already had carried over from Combiner Wars).

The whole thing with Windblade and Emissary was just ridiculous. He keeps yelling at her to "DISENGAGE!", yet he's the one who's at the controls. He's the one who should have the power to free her. She's bound up by stuff that he set in motion last episode. She can't free herself, Emissary. It's all your doing!

And once again, we're only fed table scraps of what it means to be a Cityspeaker in this show, as though it's already expected of the audience to fully understand what that term means, not accounting for the very real possibility that there may be a good portion of this show's audience that hasn't read/doesn't read the IDW comics (and based on evidence I've seen from others' reactions, that is very true).

And when Optimus gave the Matrix to Perceptor to keep safe, when he was thinking that Optimus was trying to pass it onto him, did anyone else immediately think "Oh great, he's passing the Matrix onto Wesley Crusher! "?

And was anyone else really disappointed that Fort Max was formed, head and all, without Emissary needing to first attach himself to Cerebros, as though Emissary may be treated as a fully separate entity from Fort Max in this show?

At the very least, Michael Dorn sounded... "adequate" as Fort Max (honestly, anyone with a deep voice could play this role decently enough with this quality of writing/directing).