It's quarterfinals time. Eight robots remain, giving us four fights. Which is nearly the maximum number of fights that this show can fit into a one-hour time slot, especially once you factor in commercial breaks. Why, think of how little time you have left over when you try to cram four three-minute fights into approximately 40 minutes of program! Sometimes the task is so impossible, they have to edit a three-minute fight down to two and a half minutes!
Molly explains the challenges of competing in a robotic combat tournament: "What makes this competition so tough is the ability to overcome an incredible amount of damage. [...] Robots that were painstakingly pieced together for years have to be replaced virtually overnight." This is true, and a worthwhile point to make. However, at the end of the previous episode, you implied that this tournament was taking place in real time, on a week-to-week basis. Whoever is writing your intros and outros isn't paying very much attention to their work.
We take a look at the brackets. Seems to me that the most interesting robots are all over on the left-hand side. For example, the two robots in the first fight of the night, Bronco vs. Stinger. I love both of these machines, and I greatly look forward to seeing them fight. But by the same token, I don't want to see either of them lose yet.
Clips from Stinger's first two fights are shown. We're alerted to the damaged rear wheel from its most recent fight against Warhead. Team PlumbCrazy brings a big stack of spares to every tournament for just such an eventuality. They'll be fine. Matt calls our attention to one of the dangers posed by Bronco -- the sudden force of that lifting arm is so great, it can warp the frame of a robot. And that's tougher to repair than just replacing armor or tires.
Once again, Bronco didn't really suffer any damage in its previous fight, so it's just a matter of inspecting the robot to make sure nothing has come loose. Team Inertia Labs intends to juggle Stinger as much as possible to minimize the time Stinger has to push them around.
Chris and Kenny look at the rankings. Instead of commenting on that, I'm going to recall one of my favorite fights from when I first started announcing for ComBots. Sewer Snake versus SJ -- two lifting robots going head-to-head in an arena surrounded by an out-of-bounds zone. The entire fight was an amazing back-and-forth in which both robots came this close to going over the I-beams and out of bounds. But not only did they do a great job offensively, they also showed great defensive skill, always maneuvering their way back into the arena. So I know Stinger will be able to put on a great lifter-on-lifter fight, and I bet Bronco will do the same.
Kenny discusses the modular weapons available to Stinger. He also suggests that the optimal strategy for Stinger, a lifting robot, is to get underneath Bronco. Good call.
Stinger is wheeled into the arena with a cloth draped over the entire robot. Clearly the team has a special lifting arm designed just for Bronco and they're keeping it a secret until the last possible moment.
Bronco is wheeled into the arena. The "foot" of the flipping arm is looking pretty long. I haven't been paying close attention, but they may have added an extension to increase their chances of getting underneath Stinger.
Stinger is introduced and the cloth is removed. The lifting weapon of choice is a three-pronged bar, with each of the prongs forming a wedgey-scoopy shape. Personally, I thought the two-pronged lifter seen in Stinger's glamour shot would have been a good idea (bracket the lifting prongs on either side of Bronco's flipper so it can't reach you), but I suppose the more opportunities you have to get underneath Bronco, the better. There is also a hole for a flamethrower behind the lifting mechanism.
After the prerequisite fanfare, the fight begins. Bronco cautiously makes its way across the floor. Stinger starts to approach, then hits a seam in the arena floor with its lifting forks. As Stinger tries to advance without lifting its weapon, Bronco charges. Neither robot is able to get under the other long enough to even attempt a lift (because if one attempts a lift and fails, the amount of time it takes to reset the weapon leaves them vulnerable, and either of these robots will take advantage of that kind of mistake). Stinger tries a puff of flame, but misses.
The first lift attempt comes from Bronco, which gets under the corner of Stinger and lifts. Stinger winds up on its back wheels, performing a short wheelie as it drives away. Stinger is now facing away from Bronco, so Bronco goes on the offensive. Stinger is able to stay just inches away from that flipping arm.
Bronco charges toward Stinger and activates the arm. Stinger dodges, and the momentum of Bronco driving forward, coupled with the lift provided when its flipper misses and raises its own body off the ground, sends Bronco through the air and onto a screw!
Bronco activates its arm again to try to raise itself off of the screw. This sort of succeeds, pushing Bronco forward far enough to land on the flat-topped base between the pair of screws. Bronco drives forward, along the top of the arena wall!
The base at the end of the other screw stops Bronco in its tracks, so the flipper is activated again. This gets Bronco off of the screws, but now it's upside-down. Stinger stands by in anticipation.
Bronco activates the flipper to self-right. Stinger takes advantage of Bronco's hang time and gets underneath as it lands. And although the holes for a set of killsaws impede its progress, Stinger is still able to push Bronco a little way while spewing flames.
The two robots separate. Bronco heads over to Stinger again, and for no good reason, the killsaws pop up, pushing Bronco out of the way. These two robots are doing fine on their own, BattleBox. Stay out of this.
Bronco flips Stinger upside down, then flips it right side up. The two robots position. Bronco activates its arm for no discernible reason, but Stinger can't take advantage.
Bronco and Stinger meet face to face. Bronco pushes forward and Stinger turns on its flamethrower. Just as Stinger does so, Bronco, squarely underneath Stinger's body, activates the flipping arm. And Stinger performs an amazing 720° midair somersault while spraying a trail of fire! That, hands down, will be the most gorgeous visual of this entire tournament.
Stinger bounces on its tires as it hits the ground, rotating laterally. It comes to rest right side up, but near the corner with its lifting forks fully in the upright position. As Stinger gets its bearings (and tries to position itself so it can put its forks back on the ground), Bronco charges in and flips again. This sends Stinger up a good six feet and into the wall, where it bounces off the Lexan and lands behind the barrier, in the space between the barrier and the door to the entrance ramp!
Holy cow! I didn't even realize there was a way to get your opponent out of the arena -- I thought all of the barriers were too close to the Lexan! Chris asks, "Is there any way that Stinger can get out of there?" But given how this works at other tournaments, given the fact that Matt has stopped operating his robot (there's no way he wouldn't try to drag himself back over the barrier with his lifting arm if he was allowed), and given the apparent lack of a referee countdown before the match is stopped, it's pretty clear that going over the barrier counts as an instant knockout. Just... wow!
This is the absolute truth -- I jumped out of my recliner when that happened. Through the replays, through the interviews, I just stood there, my mouth agape. That was a SPECTACULAR fight.
Throughout the commercial break, I was filled with conflicting emotions. I was thrilled, of course, to see such a great battle. But I was also devastated because this means Stinger is out of the tournament. I want to see both of these robots keep competing -- neither of them deserves to lose this early!
Well, those are the rules. We have to move on to the next fight -- it's Tombstone vs. Witch Doctor.
You know, there's a general guideline in entertainment: If you're presenting something that's a collection of shorter bits, such as a stand-up comedy set or such as an anthology episode of a TV series (for example, a Treehouse of Horror episode of "The Simpsons"), the rule of thumb is that you start off with your second-best bit and end with your best bit. "BattleBots" has never done this. Both then and now, they always show all of their best fights at the beginning of the episode.
So let's take a look at the principals in this heavy-hitting matchup. Tombstone took chunks out of Counter Revolution. Then it took chunks out of Radioactive. Ray promises that from here on out, there will be no more Mr. Nice Guy from him. Yes, those last two fights showcased him being nice.
Over on Witch Doctor's side, the team has had to make changes. Shaman's flamethrowing mechanism was unreliable at best during its last fight, and when they took a look under the hood, they realized that they couldn't quickly get it back in working order. Whether that means they can't use it for the next fight (because it has no active weapon) or whether they won't use it for the next fight (because it might get destroyed or because they want the weight back), I'm not sure, but it's just as well, because they'll need every ounce they can get for a thick steel wedge they can mount to the front of Witch Doctor.
The hosts kill some time, then the robots are brought into the arena. There are two or three different bars that can be mounted to the front of Tombstone -- for this fight, the team has chosen the thickest, shortest bar.
Introductions, formalities, and the fight begins. Both robots take a moment to get their weapons spinning. They then meet in the center of the arena, where Tombstone hits the wedge of Witch Doctor. As expected, there are sparks and both robots are repelled.
But Tombstone is knocked onto its side! It briefly balances on its wheel, its bar hits the floor a couple of times, and then it lands on both wheels, its bar still spinning surprisingly fast. Witch Doctor, seeing Tombstone briefly in trouble, charges across the Box and rams it again. Once again, the collision of wedge and spinning bar tips Tombstone onto its side.
Tombstone refuses to spin down its weapon, instead waiting for gravity to put the robot back on two wheels. Technically, it's upside down, but the weapon is just as deadly, and Witch Doctor is on it before there's a chance for driving while inverted to become an issue. In this collision, there are the usual yellow sparks from Tombstone's bar hitting Witch Doctor's wedge, but I also briefly see some white sparks -- I think Witch Doctor was able to get its weapon to momentarily connect with Tombstone's body.
Tombstone is popped into the air and lands solidly on its head. Witch Doctor charges and puts its wedge into Tombstone's weapon again. The hit flings Tombstone a distance that I would estimate at about ten feet through the air and into the wall, where it then falls back onto the floor and bounces around, its weapon slowing down for maybe a quarter of a second. When Tombstone gets flung, its weapon spinning at full speed, toward the Lexan panels of the arena wall? That's the most terrifying moment in all of combat robotics.
Before anybody even has a chance to react, Tombstone has its bar spinning frighteningly fast yet again. Witch Doctor rams it another time. That's really the only strategy you can employ against Tombstone -- I'm just shocked at how durable its spinning weapon is.
Tombstone gets its bearings over some killsaw holes. Come on, BattleBox hazard operators -- I dare you to lift up the saws while Tombstone's blade is spinning. Meanwhile, Witch Doctor's weapon is also still working, and it drives straight into Tombstone's spinning bar. There's an explosion of sparks, and Witch Doctor's disk has stopped spinning. Tombstone narrowly avoids hitting the wall and losing speed on its weapon.
Witch Doctor and Tombstone stare each other down. Tombstone approaches, so Witch Doctor uses its wedge again. This results in another huge hit that sends Tombstone halfway across the Box and into the wall. But more importantly, the hit flipped Witch Doctor onto its head!
Tombstone lands on its wheels -- and its bar has broken in half! If that's the same bar that I've seen at past tournaments, then that's one and a half inches of solid steel, snapped in half! That's how much power these hits have been delivering!
Trying to spin half a weapon would be... foolhardy, so Tombstone spins down to regain control of the robot. All it has to do now is not die, because Witch Doctor is balanced squarely on its head. It has no self-righting mechanism -- perhaps the spinning disk could have been used to drag the body across the floor, but that weapon is broken. Witch Doctor spins all four of its wheels back and forth in an effort to tilt the body and get the tires to touch the floor, but nothin' doin'. Tombstone performs the victory spin.
The countdown is completed, and Witch Doctor is out. Cheers can be heard from team Hardcore Robotics as Tombstone moves on to the semifinals.
Replays. A couple of things I'd like to point out: Notice how sturdy that wedge on Witch Doctor was. Tombstone put a couple of small gashes in it, but considering all the abuse it took, it was amazingly resilient. And look at those shots of the hit that flipped Witch Doctor onto its head and broke Tombstone's bar. Even in slow motion, the broken chunk of bar is only discernable for a couple of frames. I don't know where that thing wound up going, but I'm glad I wasn't sitting in that general direction.
Alison interviews Ray Billings. He was able to withstand the impact of those blows being fed back into his machine just long enough to win. Because if Witch Doctor hadn't been flipped onto its head at that very moment, this fight could have had a very different outcome.
The show goes to its favorite shot: Chris and Kenny sitting arenaside, holding up a large chunk of debris from the fight. If nothing else, seeing a piece of robot directly next to a human shows you how these machines really are larger than they look on TV.
After the commercial break, it's time to focus our attention on Bite Force vs. Overhaul. The hosts briefly discuss each team. At one point, Kenny practically repeats the point that Chris just made about Paul Ventimiglia's years of experience in the sport.
Instead of listening to them talk, let's take a look at the fights each robot has fought to get to this point. (I just realized -- we're going to go through these same recaps again next week when some of these same robots are in the semifinals, aren't we?) Bite Force has faced down two robots with spinning weapons -- now that it's going up against a non-spinning robot, the sturdy wedge can be removed and the upper clamping arm can be reattached.
In Overhaul's previous two fights, it faced Lock-Jaw. Both times. Overhaul suffered some internal damage during its last fight, so the team had to make some repairs to its drive.
Over at the arena, Faruq briefly introduces each robot as it comes through the tunnel and enters the Box. Then he introduces them again for their red square/blue square introductions. Has he been double-announcing them for this entire tournament? They should've kept editing one of those out.
Overhaul's team performs their customary wave-like motion to the crowd. The show cuts to a shot of Faruq observing the ritual. And then just stays on that reaction shot. A solid eight seconds of us watching a guy look around. What was that?
As the robots are given their final mobility checks, Chris says, "You know, Kenny, Bite Force told us he'd be using a little bit more of that chomping claw this time around." This is the first time the grabbing mechanism has been fully present on the robot. It would be difficult for him to use it any less.
The lights turn green -- time to fight. Bite Force is the first to attempt a lift, but Overhaul gets away. After some driving around, Bite Force is able to gets its jaws around the side of Overhaul's body. It clamps on, but when it tries to lift, of course, the center of gravity is such that Overhaul stays on the ground and Bite Force raises its own backside into the air. I love me a good clamping/lifting robot, but it seems like more often than not, this is what happens.
Overhaul drives away while the sound effects make it sound like small pieces of glass are breaking somewhere. The two robots meet weapon-to-weapon, and while neither is able to lift the other, Bite Force does shove Overhaul into the wall a couple of times, right in front of the team's driving platform.
Overhaul pushes back. But Bite Force is able to finagle its lifter underneath Overhaul's body and pushes the robot onto its back wheels ninety degrees and into another wall.
As both robots grapple, struggling to gain the upper hand with their lifting weapons, the camera shifts its attention toward Chris and Kenny in the background. It's nice to see that their commentary is actually being recorded while the action happens.
Overhaul pushes away from the wall and the two robots separate. Soon, Bite Force gets its lower forks underneath the corner of Overhaul and repeatedly tries to lift. It can't do anything too exciting to Overhaul from that position, but it is able to keep most of Overhaul's wheels off the ground. This goes on for a few seconds while Chris warns us that the arena hazards may start to be activated after a minute has elapsed.
The two robots meet face-to-face, but nothing happens. Out of nowhere, one of the panels of the arena floor pops up. Oh, wonderful -- the ramps are back. Another surprise hazard that nobody warned us about. Is it possible for a robot to drive more than five feet in this BattleBox without being at risk of getting hit by a hazard?
When the ramp retracts, it traps Overhaul's lifting forks. Both Overhaul and the ramp lift so Overhaul can get free. Meanwhile, some killsaws have appeared in the background. The BattleBox is doing all it can to win this fight.
Lots of driving around with no major offensive strides made. As the clock passes the one minute remaining mark, Overhaul is able to clamp its sharp upper tooth onto one of Bite Force's treads. It attempts to lift and does succeed in completely getting Bite Force off the ground a couple of inches.
Overhaul tries to drive Bite Force into a hazard (there are certainly plenty available), but can't move as precisely when it has a struggling 250-pound robot hanging off its front. It does shove Bite Force into the base of a screw. There's that weird shattering sound again. What is that supposed to represent?
That's given Overhaul a better grip on Bite Force, as Overhaul shoves it all the way across the arena and into a bumper on the opposite side. It tries to lift again, and this time is able to upend Bite Force onto its side. As the last few seconds tick off the clock, Overhaul tries to put Bite Force onto its head, with Bite Force doing everything in its power to prevent that. And time is up.
Chris and Kenny go over some of the replays, pointing out that this is a tough fight to judge -- Bite Force had the advantage at the beginning, but Overhaul made a late push at the end. We're reminded that the categories being considered by the judges are aggression, damage, strategy, and control. However, we still don't know how the consideration of those categories translates into a one-point score per judge, so that isn't particularly helpful. Since they no longer have to shoot the robots, the cameras have descended upon the judges' table. Jessica Chobot drops her head onto the table because this is a genuinely difficult fight to score.
Before the judges turn in their scores, they decide that they want to go into the Box and inspect the robots. This is an option that has always been available to the judges at the end of the fight, although this is the first time I've ever seen that right exercised at any robotic combat tournament. This makes for a great cliffhanger, so the show goes to commercial as the judges enter the arena.
If I was judging this fight, I would want to do the exact same thing. Both robots showed a similar amount of aggression. Both robots took their turns demonstrating control. "Strategy" is a vague, difficult-to-define category, and really shouldn't be a judging criterion at all. If one of the robots suffered some damage while the other one didn't, that would tip the result of this fight.
Personally, I would be inspecting the tread of Bite Force, where Overhaul clamped onto it during that last minute. With no other real damage occurring, if that clamp was able to disable one side of Bite Force's drive, that would give the victory to Overhaul in my mind. But if both robots were still fully operational at the end of the fight, then the fact that Bite Force was the aggressor for the first two-thirds of the battle would persuade me to give it the win.
Are the judges allowed to ask the teams to show mobility after the fight has ended? That's what I would be asking if I was a judge. But since I'm not, and since I'm watching this fight back after having recorded the show, I will point out that I did see both of Bite Force's treads moving briefly while it struggled to get right side up in those last few seconds. Which means that the lasting damage caused to both robots was equal, which means that my vote goes to Bite Force.
When we return from commercial, we see the judges inspecting the robots. Jessica gets on her hands and knees to examine Bite Force's treads. After looking over both machines, the judges return to their table.
Audience members are milling around in the background as Chris and Kenny discuss the fight. We then go to the builders being assembled in the middle of the arena for the announcement of the decision. I honestly don't remember which way this fight went the first time I saw it (my brain chose to remember the first two fights instead), so right now, I'm writing this with as much anticipation as anybody.
We don't hear whether it was a 3-0 or 2-1 decision. Faruq says "The winner is...", then pauses for a solid ten seconds. Come on, man. A short pause is fine, but this isn't an episode of "The Bachelor."
"...Bite Force!" Not sure which microphone picked that up, as Faruq's hand mic was pointing toward the floor at the time. Chris and Kenny recap the situation while sitting arenaside. Which would be fine if the show didn't keep cutting between shots of the competitors shaking hands in the center of the BattleBox, and Chris and Kenny sitting in front of an empty BattleBox.
It's now on to the final fight of the quarterfinals: Icewave vs. Ghost Raptor. Icewave has gotten to this point by tearing into opponents with its spinning blade. Ghost Raptor has gotten to this point by losing its spinning blade and becoming a lifting robot. In the pits, Chuck Pitzer promises that he has a surprise in store for Icewave.
The hosts discuss the two robots and what they will want to accomplish in this fight. It's nothing that you couldn't figure out on your own. So let's go to the introductions.
As Ghost Raptor enters the arena, we see the modification that has been made for Icewave -- a long metal bar with "De-icer" written on it. The bar is mounted to the top of Ghost Raptor's lifting mechanism, stretches far in front of the robot, and terminates in a shape that roughly approximates the shape of the engine housing on the top of Icewave's body. The plan being that they'll be able to use that bar to control Icewave while keeping its spinning blade at bay.
After the robots are double-introduced, we see the pre-fight mobility tests. At which point Team Raptor learns that with so much weight hanging in front of Ghost Raptor's body, the robot can't drive effectively while the de-icer is in its optimal position. They're going to have to raise it in the air so they can drive, then drop it right before they reach Icewave.
Since we spent some extra time on the judges' decision in the previous fight, enough time has elapsed in this segment that the show can go to commercial before the fight begins. I suspected this would happen -- they have six segments they need to fill and only four fights. Given how the last two episodes had that extra segment of filler at the end, I was wondering if they'd find a way to stretch these fights out closer toward the end of the hour.
Back from commercial, we watch the remaining pre-fight rituals, and then the fight begins. Ghost Raptor is a little shaky in its driving, trying to adjust to its extra bar. Icewave is spinning at full speed.
Soon, Ghost Raptor is able to gets its bar around Icewave's head from behind. It starts to push, but Icewave is just close enough to produce some sparks on Ghost Raptor's wedge and escape. Icewave attacks Ghost Raptor's corner, narrowly avoiding the bar. The angle of the wedge, coupled with Icewave's forward momentum, causes the robot to begin to wobble. A split second later, Ghost Raptor activates its lifting weapon. It's difficult to tell, but I think the lifter misses. Icewave shakes and flips over onto its head.
As Icewave stops its weapon and the upside-down body of the robot comes to a rest, Ghost Raptor moves forward, using the bar to hold Icewave down in one place. But then, rather than leaving Icewave balanced gently on its head, Ghost Raptor pushes Icewave toward the screws. What are you doing? Do you want Icewave to be flipped back onto its wheels?
Icewave is pushed away by the screw, coming to rest upside down at a diagonal. It tries to move the bar, but there's not enough room for the bar to spin up and potentially flip the robot right side up again. The referee begins the countdown on Icewave. And once again, Ghost Raptor comes over and starts pushing it toward the screws. Ghost Raptor, the victory is yours! Why are you still attacking? Did you bet money on the other team?
Ghost Raptor does I don't know what over by Icewave and the screw. The referee reaches zero -- the fight is over.
An interview with Chuck Pitzer, then it's time to end the episode. We take a look at the brackets and the semifinal fights which will begin next week's season finale: Tombstone vs. Bronco and Bite Force vs. Ghost Raptor. The winners fight each other at the end of the episode for the title of BattleBots champion. And I've gotta say, unless there's a lucky wedge deflection that sends Tombstone into the wall, it looks like Tombstone has this in the bag.
During the closing credits and the tease for next week's episode, the announcer says, "It's gonna be a full-on BOTtle royal." You really don't have to do that -- the word "battle" is in the name of the show, after all.
So, there's one hour left and only three fights to feature. How will the show fill the rest of the time? Will the Giant Nut ceremony be twenty minutes long, with pyrotechnics, a half-mile procession, and a lengthy coronation speech from a copyright-infringing facsimile of the Terminator? Will Kenny treat us to a moving interpretive dance? Could they maybe just hold a couple of grudge matches? (Don't be silly.) Tune in next week -- some of your questions might be answered!