Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Episode Reviews

Season 4

2011-09-16T07:38:00.000-07:00

I've been missing in action!

Sorry that the last few episodes of Season 3 escaped my reach last year, although I hope to get back to them later on. Ahsoka still sort of gives me hives, so The Most Dangerous Game episodes just sort of made me yawn on initial impact. Oh well. Say *** for the animation. I loved, loved, loved the Prison Break episodes, though. Absolutely awesome.

Looking forward to Season 4 and coming back strong with some episode reviews for you all.

I'll also say that I have my copy of the Star Wars Complete Saga Blu-Rays and frankly...they're awesome. Even though there are changes to the original trilogy (get with the program or don't, but quit complaining people); there are also some changes to the prequels for the eagle-eyed. Good ones I think.

Anyway, I'm back.

Season 3, Episode 15, 16, 17 - Overlords Trilogy

2011-04-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

If Luke Skywalker's journey is the classic hero myth, then what does that make Anakin's. At once the hero and villain of the Star Wars mythology, Anakin's journey spans what are essentially two life-times, two selves. In The Overlords Trilogy ("Overlords," "Altar of Mortis" and "Ghosts of Mortis") the meta-narrative of the Star Wars series is transformed into an allegorical showdown.

Here, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano are drawn to a mysterious, uncharted planet that appears populated only by three Force-Wielders: Father, Daughter and Son. These spirits represent the Light Side, the Dark Side and a sort of parent/cop that keeps the two sides in check.

Clearly, the creative team of The Clone Wars threw everything but the kitchen sink at these episodes. For that reason, there are great pleasures for fans to be found in these episodes, such as the voices of Pernilla August and Liam Neeson, as well as images re-rendered from the films. There's an operatic sensibility at play here in the best tradition of Star Wars. I'm sure that this trilogy, for some, will mark the high point of the Clone Wars series. They're gorgeous, intense, and creative.

If I have reservations about these episodes, then, it's simply that the show is speaking it's subtext out loud. In short: to display struggles between the Light Side as a glowing woman and the Dark Side as a Sith-ish angry guy...it's all a bit too literal, even for a series that isn't hiding it's influences. For all the beauty and grandeur of the Overlords Trilogy, and all the intriguing additions to the mythology of the series... it really never tells us anything we don't know. In fact, it expressly tells us everything we would pick up simply by watching the films, and thinking about what they mean.

I also am perpetually skeptical of erasing the memories of characters in order to avoid continuity issues. It ranks right up there with "It was all a dream" for storytelling cop-outs. If you can't fit what you're doing into the existing mythology without cheating, maybe a few storytelling tweaks are in order. For example: what if Ahsoka saw Anakin's future, instead of Anakin himself? Wouldn't that fuel the existing series without complicating or challenging the character arcs of the films?

Obviously, the above aren't small problems with the storytelling, but they're not deal breakers either. Any Star Wars fan would be foolish to let those quibble overwhelm the exceptional animation, character moments and drama of the Overlords Trilogy. A terrific and exciting part of Star Wars, built to be controversial for sure, but also with a keen eye on pleasing fans and enriching the mythology.

Rating (out of five): ****

Note: Yes, I realize the season finale has come and gone as of this posting! I'm catching up. My apologies!

Bad reviewer!

2011-03-18T06:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know I've been away from the site for waaaay too long. I'm going to catch up by reviewing Overlords as a trilogy in one post and Citadel as a trilogy in another post. I went on a honeymoon (to Guatemala, which I totally recommend) and have been running around being my usual frantic self. But I have not forgotten you!

Season 3, Episode 14 - Witches of the Mist

2011-02-07T06:30:00.000-08:00

The third part of the superb Nightsisters trilogy of episodes doesn't reach the emotional heights of the middle episode, Monster, but it's a more-than-satisfying finale. It also announces a more ambitious outlook for the Clone Wars as it's own series.

The rousing introduction of Savage Opress for viewers, is an alarming act in the Clone Wars universe. Obi-Wan and Anakin are sent locate this new warrior and stop him. Of course, they're not aware that they're merely side players in a power struggle between Asajj Ventress and her former master Count Dooku. Like much of the Nightsisters trilogy, we're privy to an expressed philosophy of the Sith and their lionization of power. This is all about what it means to be Sith.

In a scene reminiscent of General Grievous introduction is the original Clone Wars microseries, we see Savage humbled by Dooku. These lessons are not only a way to expose Savage's comparative crudity; but lay a path for the final act of the episode. We see Dooku at his most powerful and in his element, expressing his power, explaining his beliefs, and abusing a servant.

Of course, Opress is designed as a Sith weapon, and a deadly one. This episode sees the death of a character first introduced in the premiere of the series, King Katuunko. I have to admit, I was surprised by the suddenness and ferocity of this character's death, especially because he was always shown to be particularly noble and particularly willing to stand up to the Separatists. A worthy reminder that standing up to the villains is brave because it can, in fact, cost you your life.

Inevitably, this episode leads to and out-and-out lightsaber battle between Dooku and his estranged apprentices, as well as the Jedi. The battle itself is cinematic and played well into the various styles of the combatants. It felt a little bit arbitrary (a lightsaber duel to close things out, as usual) but it was excellent action for action fans. The results of the battle were a tad more inviting: Ventress still on her own, and Opress severing his ties with Dooku.

The final moment seemed more designed to get water cooler chatter than to make much sense. Intriguing? Sure. Logical? Maul was chopped in half. What could possibly be more dead than that?

Rating (out of five): **** 3/4

Season 3, Episode 13 - Monster

2011-01-15T08:55:00.001-08:00

Monster, the second part of the "Nightsisters Trilogy", is notable for many reasons. One is that it is the introduction of Star Wars latest villain, the much-anticipated Savage Opress. Second, it's main characters, apart from Count Dooku, are entirely of the Clone Wars continuity. Asajj Ventress, the Nightsisters, The Dathomirian Zabraks, Mother Talzin, Savage himself: none of these characters appear in the films. Still, though, they are richly drawn here, brought to a level of character development and emotion that rivals their more established counterparts. Third, it's one of the darkest tales the Clone Wars has yet attempted, and that daring will undoubtedly pay dividends. Finally, it actually deepens Darth Maul and therefore, The Phantom Menace.

The story picks up where Nightsisters leaves off, as Dooku, attacked by shadowy figures with red and blue lightsabers, believes he has been targeted by the Jedi. He asks Mother Talzin to create a new assassin for him to replace Asajj Ventress, who he believes to be dead. Talzin sends Asajj to a nearby village of males, Zabraks all, much like Darth Maul. Yellow, instead of red, (because of their homeworld? Racial difference?) these Zabraks are forced to fight for their lives, to prove themselves worthy of becoming a servant to the Nightsisters.

The ensuing episode is superb. Savage, voiced by veteran actor Clancy Brown, is a far better character than I'd anticipated, a spirited and even heroic warrior. What fuels him to "win" the competition is a fierce desire to protect his kin, Feral. It's this very heroism that causes his downfall, as he is forced into servitude and essentially has his identity wiped away by the magic of the Nightsisters.

The entire enterprise does more to establish the villainy of the Dark Side than many. Here, we literally see what were good characters destroyed and turned into destroyers. Death is dealt to the innocent. And all the while, there's something surprisingly sad about Savage. Is the good individual buried inside this new Sith Assassin? Or has it been entirely eviscerated? Savage is a "Monster," all the moreso for having been once generous and good.

Of course, it also begs the question, is this the process that created Darth Maul? And, if so, doesn't it mean that his former self could possibly have been just as sympathetic?

The action is excellently choreographed, and the mood is chilly and frightening. The final action sequence, designed to highlight just how dangerous Savage Opress is, is quick and effective. The final moment, though, and Dooku's declaration, brings us back to the very nature of the Sith and their cycle of power struggles for their own sake.

Sensational all around, and one of the best episodes of the series. All the better for resting the weight of the drama on as yet unseen characters.

Rating (out of five): *****

Season 3, Episode 12 - Nightsisters

2011-01-14T13:09:00.000-08:00

The Clone Wars returns from it's holiday hiatus with the Katie Lucas penned Nightsisters. After a full half-season largely consisting of episodes about interest rates, Nightsister is a welcome return to some of the more exciting elements of the Star Wars universe, namely, the machinations of the Sith and the character of Asajj Ventress.

Ventress takes center stage here. Her original introduction, as a part of the original Clone Wars miniseries of awesome animated shorts in 2003, has been nearly written out of the mythology. Now, in flashbacks, we are privy to a more complex and rich history for her than ever before. In many ways, Asajj has been useful because she can handle the lightsaber dueling, keeping Dooku where he should be: largely behind the scenes. She also has developed a fun flirtation with Obi-Wan. Other than that, though, we've rarely seen her as more than a hired sword, a sort of extra-powerful bounty hunter. With Nightsisters, she's given some long-awaited depth. (I'm aware that much of this mirrors existing EU backstory, but we all know until it hits the screen all bets are off.)

We also confront the inevitable: Asajj is that she is a third Sith in a universe where Sith come in pairs. She is Dooku's apprentice, even as he serves Palpatine. Nightsisters finally pulls the trigger on this loaded fact.

We also meet the Nightsisters themselves. Designs that mirror the "Sith Witches" that have floated around the EU, we see now that they are matriarchal mystics from Dathomir. Spectral and frightening, I loved the introduction of a powerful new force and their bizarre rituals. Truly fun.

In many ways, Asajj is the Sith Ahsoka. We know she won't see Episode III, and we know she's a Clone Wars era character only. I'm heartened to see they're taking new steps with her, and look forward to see how the depict her fate in this series. I hope they'll take the same approach with Ashoka soon.

Clearly, this is set up for the coming of the much hyped Savage Opress, and in that, the episode has a bit of a "only the first act" sense of being incomplete storytelling. Still, a great return to form for the series, and I look forward to the next part of the tale.

Rating (out of five): **** 1/2

And....we're back. With big news!

2011-01-07T06:43:00.000-08:00

First...Star Wars: The Complete Saga will finally hit Blu-Ray in September 2011. Great news there. I wish I could just hibernate until then. Like all fans, I'm waiting to see just what will be on these discs. All three prequels had extensive DVD releases with deleted scenes and documentaries. Plus, there was an extensive documentary produced about the making of the entire saga with the first DVD release of the original trilogy. Will we see these materials simply reproduced and repackaged with some additional extras? Or will we see newly produced extras for this edition and deleted scenes from the original trilogy too?

It does seem like they're signaling heavily that we'll get some new stuff here and that's exciting.

Also...will there be changes? At this point, I'd be surprised if they were unaltered.

Also... tonight The Clone Wars returns with Nightsisters. The previews of the rest of the season look extremely dark and thrilling. Looking forward to it, as I've felt Season 3 has been a bit lackluster so far.

Season 3, Episode 11 - Pursuit of Peace

2010-12-06T06:36:00.000-08:00

Well, yet another episode that features plot lines about interest rates. Pursuit of Peace follows the proceedings of Season two's murder mystery episode Senate Murders. All in all, this episode does everything it can with a plot that, like last week's episode, relies heavily on buzzwords from today's political climate.

I won't retread what it is I like about the complexities of the Clone War (read my review of Heroes on Both Sides for that). That being said, there's very little that can be done to make conversations with cheating bankers get the blood boiling. It's clear that the chase scene and a few scenes were thugs threaten Senators were included to make the overall plot some energy.

It's because of these sequences that the episode has a sort of identity problem. By reducing the difficult decisions of Senators to "I don't want to get beat up"...they back away from the reasons that someone might escalate a conflict. On the other hand, it's hard to argue that what this episode needed was more conversations that take place in offices. The final few moments, though, are given a nice bit of stagecraft as screens show Padme essentially addressing the entire planet.

So...all in all I thought the episode itself was well put together and animated. It was a bit clunky, but not ineptly assembled. Maybe my problem with it was, essentially, one of context.

The episode as a stand-alone is fine. Season 3, though, has been filled with episodes that seem focused on the backroom deals and political ethics surrounding the war. Look at Supply Lines , Sphere of Influence, Corruption, The Academy, Assassin, and Heroes on Both Sides. Including Pursuit of Peace, that's 7 of the aired 11 episodes that feature political lessons, or that star Senators giving speeches or making difficult votes. I think I've hit my saturation point.

Rating (out of five): ***

Irvin Kershner has died

2010-11-29T08:12:00.000-08:00

Sad news for Star Wars fans...Irvin Kershner, director of The Empire Strikes Back, has passed away at 87. It goes without saying that The Empire Strikes Back was the best of the six films and the best Star Wars story ever committed to any medium. It goes beyond that though: it was massively influential through the culture. It's echoes are felt everywhere, with memorable lines and characters and images that have become a part of the cultural landscape.

It wasn't automatically going to work out that way. We all know that sequels do not always surpass their predecessors, let alone entirely deepen and expand on them. This was a truly great piece of popular art, and Kershner was at the helm.

Thank you for what you did for all of us. May The Force Be With You, Always.

Season 3, Episode 10 - Heroes on Both Sides

2010-11-22T08:19:00.000-08:00

I find myself conflicted as I write this review of Heroes On Both Sides, a landmark episode of the Clone Wars series, that highlights the inherent Catch-22 of the prequel-era storytelling. The episode moves the scattered chronology of the series forward significantly, aging Ahsoka and moving Anakin's attitude and wardrobe closer to that of his ultimate fate in Revenge of the Sith. It also fully embraces the muddled political story that Lucas is telling in the prequel-era.

In many ways, the prequel-era politics are a large dramatic setback for the stories. Our heroes are never clearly fighting for anything except the idea of the status quo and "Democracy" even as we see that the very ideals they fight for are subverted by leadership. The Separatists interests in leaving the Republic are entirely confusing: are they leaving because they believe in the idea that the Republic is corrupt? If so, why do they have their own Parliament? What policies have driven the Separatists away? And if they are so against, for example, corporate influence, why are the stand-ins for the Separatists always members of the Corporate Alliance or the Banking Clan?

Making things worse is that, essentially, the war itself and the issues involved are entirely an invention of the Sith. Both leaders are in cahoots, escalating an invented conflict in order to push the galaxy towards Imperialism. Why? Because the Sith are bad, basically, and they want to rule the galaxy. Power, in a sense, for its own sake.

In short, it's hard to keep track of why our heroes are at war, and with whom. It makes for stories that are harder to tell, and have a bigger barrier for mainstream consumption.

What's both wonderful and terrible about what I've written above is that it is, in fact, no more or less complicated than real war, especially the wars of today. Like it or not, the prequel-era stories are a mirror to their time.

The wars of the United States do not have popular support. They were started on evidence that is discredited, and the countries we invaded were states not directly related to the loose affiliation of terrorists that attacked us. These wars have abstract goals, have complicated players, have costs and benefits that are hard to pin down. We've done unethical, even criminal, things (torture, for example). We're not at war with the Nazis in the US; we're at war with ourselves and our values. It's unsatisfying and unresolved, and perhaps that's one of the things that the prequel-era stories get exactly right. Whether or not you're on the left or the right in the US, it's impossible to feel as if our reason for fighting is clear cut and fixed.

My attitude towards this episode, in that context, is also unresolved. In a lot of ways, it's tough to sit through and be entertained by a plot driven by deregulation of the banks (which shoehorns an unrelated contemporary hot button issue in an uncomfortable way) and a lot of chat in sitting rooms. Some of Ahsoka's lines are inelegantly shoved into scenes for the utility of speaking for the younger members of the audience ("I don't understand!" "All I know is the Separatists are bad!" "Politics sure aren't black and white!"). I can't say I don't see the reasoning, but I did wince a few times.

Also, the moment where a young man "checks out" our newly early teen Ahsoka struck me as, shall we say, in poor taste.

All that being said, though, I can't help but admire the goals of and existence of this episode's major themes. The Republic has killed good people. That the Separatists may simply have different political ideas. That sometimes what drives people to fight is fear, not reason. That there are those that profit from war financially. The message is anti-establishment, deeply subversive. This is a story about questioning the reasons for fighting, questioning unthinking loyalty, and about not judging the "enemy." Considering the demographic of this audience likely skews below 15, I have tremendous respect for the audacity of presenting those messages in this way. Even as we know the outcome, to watch politicians manipulated away from peace, even as its offered to them, is painfully resonant.

Imperfect and clumsy as moments in this episode may be, Heroes On Both Sides reflects reality back to us, and asks us what we see. Our political landscape is foggy, dramatically slippery. The stakes, though, remain life and death, freedom or tyranny. The story of finding, or losing, ones moral compass in a confusing world may not always be as fun as the story of dogfighting with the bad guys. That doesn't make it a story that shouldn't be told.

Ratings (out of five): ****

Season 3, Episode 9 - Hunt for Ziro

2010-11-13T10:02:00.001-08:00

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

That's a bit more like it! The ninth episode of season three picks up the pace decidedly from the last few episodes. Chronologically following the debut of Cad Bane (the season finale from Season 1, Hostage Crisis); Hunt for Ziro follows Obi-Wan Kenobi and the screen debut of EU darling, Jedi Quinlan Vos.

I've made no secret of my dislike of the Ziro the Hutt character. From his original introduction in The Clone Wars movie to his subsequent appearances, Ziro is simply an ill-conceived character. He's silly, he's mildly offensive (the big city Hutt is sexually ambiguous and swishy). He makes Jar Jar Binks seem like a breath of fresh air.

How fantastic, then, to see the creative team focus on his creepiness, as opposed to his silliness. His love scene with Sy Snootles is nothing less than audaciously vile: weird in a way that actually made me laugh out loud.

Her eventual betrayal of him is perfect, of course. It reinforces the dangerous world of Jabba's palace. The Hutts have lost a whole lot of steam in The Clone Wars series. Jabba's "son," and the silly looking Hutt Clan, Ziro's Mamma, and Ziro himself...they all contribute to the Hutts as sight gags, as opposed to dangerous criminals. In this episode, the split the difference nicely. Ziro is wicked and manipulative. Sy Snootles? A murderer. (The death of Ziro gets this episode an extra half star from me, just for giving me the satisfaction.)

The episode was full of imaginative touches. The dance sequence homage to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; the mummified Hutt; the nasty little lizards that crawl on Mamma the Hutt. It had a sense of whimsy and ideas that I really enjoyed.

Furthermore, we meet Quinlan Vos at last. For me, his debut was fun, if not iconic. Obi-Wan refers to him as "crazy" but I never really understood why he was more brash or distinct from, say, Anakin. I'm hoping they can go a bit further with that aspect of his character, but I liked him well-enough.

The action sequence, though, between Vos, Kenobi and Cad Bane was easily the best action sequence of the season and, I would say, among favorite action sequences of the series. Bane comes off as creative and dangerous, and it was a thrill to watch him and the Jedi leap and tumble through the new (and intriguing) world of Nal Hutta.

One hope for Vos is that now we have a character whose adventures can be new to us. He's a loner, he's got a history to establish (I loved that they made reference to a previous run in with Cad Bane), and he's got unique powers. I look forward to Vos-centric episodes, and maybe, an extended rivalry between him and Bane. It's set-up here perfectly. I hope they see it through.

Rating (out of five): **** 1/2

Season 2 Blu Ray thoughts

2010-11-11T07:35:00.000-08:00

I picked up the Clone Wars Season 2 Blu-Ray. Love the presentation of the discs. Season 2 looks amazing in high definition.

One little quibble: the extras are a bit buried. The Season 1 set has an icon next to each episode, which allows you to see a quick mini-documentary about the making of the episode, and it lets you know if that episode has additional footage. All of the Season 2 extras are buried in the Jedi Archives feature. In fact, it took me a minute to realize where the "deleted scenes" were... and I'm a huge fan of DVDs. It shouldn't be hard to find that sort of popular material.

So...great set, great season, but the Season 1 set is laid out in a slightly more fan friendly manner, I'd say.

Savage Oppress Previews

2010-11-11T07:33:00.000-08:00

Two of 'em. Picked up from TFN. Savage Oppress versus Quinlan Vos FTW!

MTV Shows

AND

Season 3, Episode 8 - Evil Plans

2010-11-08T13:35:00.001-08:00

Finally (I'm catching up on my reviews today!) another in a series of so-so episodes. This one isn't dull, per se. Instead, Evil Plans is absolutely weird. Here's what happens: C-3PO and Artoo get sent to go buy fruit; R2-D2 goes to a spa; the writers explain to the 5 people who care how Cad Bane could break into the Senate building so easily in the last episode of Season 1 (Hostage Crisis); C-3PO get hilariously tortured; we see the mustached and costumed images of the cartoonish Hut Clan leaders discuss freeing Zirro the Hutt.

I wouldn't say it's actually bad because it's just so bizarre that it's worth watching. I love the droids, and it's nice to watch them have their own episode. Anthony Daniels continues to be the hardest working man in Star Wars.

I do think, though, that I hope that we'll see more of the Artoo and Threepio from A New Hope. Notably, that Threepio is not the funny one in that duo...he's the straight man. Watch it again. Artoo is beeping away what are undoubtedly rude or off-color comments, and Threepio is offended or horrified. Lately, we see Artoo seem amused by this Felix Unger counterpart. But to me, Artoo is the one with all the jokes. We just only hear half the line: that's what's funny.

Not too much to add to review this episode other than it made me half-smile and half-scratch my head. You have to sort of see the Artoo gets a massage/Threepio gets tortured scene to believe it.

Thank the Maker next week is something worth getting excited about: Quinlan Vos. (Sadly...Zirro.)

Rating (out of five): **

Season 3, Episode 7 - Assassin

2010-11-08T13:12:00.001-08:00

Ahsoka Tano is having terrifying visions, which lead her to believe that Senator Amidala's life is being threatened by Aurra Sing. Another episode that is focused on our female cast ("You've come a long way, baby!"), Assassin puts Ahsoka in charge of protecting Padme during an important speech on Alderaan.

Before I go into the details of this episode, I'd like to quote the official site:

This episode, more than others, reveals the convoluted chronology of stories from the first two seasons. The Season Two finale, "Lethal Trackdown," actually takes place before the Season One finale, "Hostage Crisis."

In a chronological flow of events, the series begins with the action on Christophsis ("Cat and Mouse," "The Hidden Enemy"), which introduces Ahsoka to the Clone Wars ("The New Padawan," which was incorporated into feature film). Then, the kidnapping of Rotta the Hutt introduces Ziro the Hutt, and the movie ends with Ziro's incarceration. Many Season One and Season Two episodes then follow, with Season Two's trilogy of Boba Fett episodes introducing Aurra Sing into the storyline. The crashing of the Slave I leads the Jedi to mistakenly believe that Aurra is dead, until she surfaces in this episode, which brings back Ziro -- chronologically -- for the first time since his imprisonment. The story continues in the next Season Three episode, "Evil Plans", and Aurra will somehow be freed from captivity in time for Cad Bane's attack on the Senate in Season One's "Hostage Crisis." The drama surrounding Ziro and his freedom then picks up in "Hunt for Ziro," the ninth episode of this season.

Get that? Right. Look, I really don't mind any of this if the episodes are good. But in upcoming episodes (see: the next episode Evil Plans) the Secrets Revealed theme might as well be "Retcon - The Season." Continuity is important to someone - but let's face it - I'm someone who follows this stuff closely and even I don't care exactly when Ahsoka got good at using a Jedi Mind Trick or when Aurra Sing bit the bullet. Continuity isn't plot.

That being said, this is yet another Perfectly Fine Episode. Aurra Sing seems threatening enough to warrant a few moments of stylish action and Ahsoka's visions are cryptic enough to have some mystery about how they play out. Padme, even, gets into the action is absolutely fun ways.

The problem though (and it's not small) is that we know that Padme is not killed here. Our visions of the future are 100% more accurate than Ahsokas. We are absolutely certain of the future, because we have seen Padme's funeral already, folks. We also know that Ahsoka's attempts to be the best Jedi she can be and believe in herself will have little bearing on the larger Star Wars narrative. Certainly, there might be a little girl watching who is learning to trust her instincts and be confident (and hey, I'm not completely heartless) but without a whole lot of help from some expert animators, this story lacks much tension, and this type of story deals entirely in tension.

Not that I have any illusions about being listened to by the creative staff - but maybe if Ahsoka were to protect another Senator whose fate is unknown, the exact same episode would have been doubly effective.

Rating (out of five): ** 3/4

Season 3, Episode 6 - The Academy

2010-11-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

Following on the heels of Corruption is The Academy, an Ahsoka focused episode. In The Academy, Ahsoka has been brought to Mandalore to educate the elite children of Mandalore about, you guessed it, corruption. The kids get into all sorts of trouble, Scooby Doo style, as they try to figure out how high up the government the criminal element goes.

Prime Minister Almec, featured in each Mandalore episode, features prominently here too, along with Satine as well. Those characters are especially effective, and Ahsoka isn't as terrible as she is capable of being. Still, the incorrigible youngsters at the center of the episode's action didn't exactly thrill me. They felt light-weight and expedient, and barely distinguishable from one another. Also...Cadet Korkie? Really?

Certainly, there's little doubt about who the villain turns out to be if you've watched the previous episode or you've watched a mystery in your life. I will admit, though, that the final act of the episode was played in a more harrowing way than the opening of the episode led me to expect. So, whatever half star I might remove for giving Ahsoka so much to do, the creative team gets back in making our heroes appear to be in real jeopardy.

All that's done well here, though, falls prey to the same general malaise I felt when watching the previous episode. I love Star Wars (I mean, no one's paying me to write this blog, folks) but episodes about Smart Alec kids saving an entire planet from bad guys just leave me cold. At the end of the episode I though: Okay what moment was new, exciting, shocking, grand? Even retreads like Grievous Intrigue - which offer little new plot - have action and spectacle on their side. Here, though, between plucky Ahsoka and her kiddie Cadets, I felt no such resonance or sense of wonder. Just a workmanlike episode in an oddly workmanlike season.

Ratings (out of five): ** 1/2

Season 3, Episode 5 - Corruption

2010-11-08T12:09:00.000-08:00

In Corruption, The Clone Wars returns to Mandalore and Dutchess Satine, one of the best characters introduced in Season 2 (and from the best of the story arcs as well). The episode itself is actually the first of a duology, although it stands up perfectly well on its own.

Here, we see the complications inherent in attempting to remain outside of the system. The pacifism of Mandalore has meant that they are neither dealing directly with the Republic nor the Separatists. Resources are scarce, and a black market rises to fill the hole left where regular commerce is failing. When the profit motives and unethical business practices become a real hazard (unhealthy doses of a toxin leak into children's meals) it's up to Satine, with Padme's help, to move beyond the political squabbles and discover the culprits.

The episode plays out in a relatively straightforward manner. Satine and Padme follow leads, find themselves in danger, are horrified by the corruption around them, and unravel the mystery. The animation has evolved to the point that little character moments are far more nuanced, and Mandalore's design is always fun to see. I also enjoyed the relationship between Satine and Padme well-enough, although geniality isn't exactly dramatic.

Which is, perhaps, the biggest issues. Corruption is never exactly ho - hum, but it never feels inspired either. There's no villainous character whose invention seems sinister enough to be more than generically greedy, and never a heroic moment that's unexpected. Neither disappointing nor exhilarating, this episode sort of left me feeling unmoved. Which is, shall we say, not a good thing.

As with Supply Lines, it's admirable to see the writers tackle complex issues like political corruption and greed in a way that's palatable for younger viewers. Unfortunately, it's a delicate balance to communicate this type of nuance to children, and there were, for my taste, a few too many lines that bring down the subtlety hammer in order. The word Corruption itself is stated...five times? More? In 22 minutes? Is this overkill for a viewer like me, or simply necessary for some viewers? Hard to tell. For me, as a longtime fan, the hamfisted "teaching moments" stick out a bit too often.

Again, watching this episode never made me feel unhappy to have tuned in, or overly bored. But a lesson in civics followed by a couple of gun fights? Bring on Savage Oppress please.

Rating (out of five): ** 1/2

Season 3, Episode 4 - Sphere of Influence

2010-10-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

Sphere of Influence is a fun, zippy, but ultimately minor episode of the series with one distracting-and-delightful detail: it stars the George Lucas clan. Chairman (wasn't that Baron?) Papanoida (get it?) is, in fact, modeled after Lucas himself. To see him and other characters modeled after his own family running around solving a mystery and firing laser guns is...well... a hoot.

Luckily, as the sight gag is apparent in every frame, the episode is not played for laughs. A kidnapping tale, Sphere of Influence is excellent for what it is, even if it never quite soars. In keeping with the Season 3 theme, this episode returns to one of the few new characters not instantly shot: Senator Riyo Chuchi from Trespass (one of my favorites).

It also checks in on young Greedo. Yes, indeed, Greedo. And takes us to the Mos Eisley Cantina. To see George Lucas and family in the Mos Eisley Cantina in a firefight with Greedo? C'mon people. It's like a love letter to nerds.

That's why, really, it's a minor miracle that the intrigue of the episode plays out relatively smoothly. I can't say that I thought it was all that memorable - the story was standard fare - but I enjoyed it while it lasted. Also, the politics seemed to work well in the story, as opposed to being a story about the fact that there were political issues.

One little nitpick: doesn't Greedo speak Huttese? What's with all these prequel era characters speaking basic? Did I miss a meeting?

Rating (out of five): ***

Supply Lines and Sphere of Influence coming soon

2010-10-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone -

I'm getting married on Saturday, so that's taken up all my excess brain-space. The reviews are coming soon!

Season 3 Poll Results

2010-09-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

My life is complete! More Season 3!	11 (42%)
Looks good, but is it going to be more of the same?	6 (23%)
Kamino Battle!	5 (19%)
Just how much Star Wars do I have to watch until it's enough?	0 (0%)
Savage Oppress? Really? Why not call him Murder Badguy?	4 (15%)

Season 3, Episode 3 - Supply Lines

2010-09-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

Supply Lines is an oddball of an episode, wedged into the Clone Wars continuity and starring characters usually relegated to the sidelines. The battle for Ryloth rages led by the unfortunately named Master Di and season 2's Ryloth rebel Cham Syndulla. They appeal to the Republic for aid - food, ammunition and medical supplies. In order to fulfill this request, Bail Organa and Jar Jar Binks travel to the planet Toydaria, in an effort to secure a route.

As a stand-alone episode, it's a ho-hum affair, focusing on a sort of kid-friendly version of diplomacy. It would be interesting (as with other episodes in the series as a whole) to see a prolonged negotiation that involves the interest of various parties as opposed to the oft-repeated assertion of neutrality (see: Madalore). It's laudable that the writers want to show the effect of politics on the war front, but because of the brevity of episodes and the demographics of the general viewership, the limitations makes scenes like these better in theory than in practice.

The debate before King Katuunko isn't without interest for fans: it helps to clarify the Trade Federation's public position of not being an active Separatist supporter. It remains unnecessarily sticky and confusing as a story point, but it adds layers to what a character like Lott Dodd can contribute. Later, "diplomacy" is reduced to an amusing enough song and dance number by Jar Jar Binks as ships fly past the windows.

The battle scenes here are there to serve debate on Toydaria, not the other way around. As such, they work, and the animation is fluid and fun. Once again, new characters are cut down quickly. This time, though, it's in service of showing the timing of Bail Organa's and Jar Jar's efforts impact lives, not just who gets bandaged up and when.

It's an interesting trend for Season 3 to wedge episodes into the continuity. The first two episodes of Season 3 were bookends for an episode in Season 1. This episode is glue that connects the very first episode of the series and the Ryloth campaign. This is a six of one, half a dozen of the other choice for me. I like that that they're using their existing narratives to weave a larger tapestry. I am, though, excited to see extended stories that reach beyond the core characters and show us things that are entirely new. Supply Lines doesn't cover new ground in the least. In fact, it's actively retracing the series' steps.

Rating (out of five): ** 1/2

Season 3, Episode 2 - ARC Troopers (plus deleted scene!)

2010-09-21T13:36:00.001-07:00

The second episode (or the second part of an extended episode, depending on how you look at it) of Season 3 is ARC Troopers, which fast forwards us past "Rookies" in the chronology of the series and into the defense of Kamino against a cunning and sinister attack by General Grievous.

The episode is action packed, and it throws quite a bit of the best of Star Wars tricks at us: lightsaber duels, firefights, underwater and space battles. It's all in there, and all thrilling. It's so good that, in a way, it would have benefited from being given more time. In Season 2, the battle for Geonosis took place over multiple episodes, turning it into a stirring campaign. Kamino could easily receive that sort of treatment.

That being said, it's unfair to review what you didn't see. What I did see what exceptional characterizations and great action. It's episodes like this one that excited Star Wars fans when this series was announced in the first place. It, like Clone Cadets, also benefits from being a part of a larger in-series mythology pertaining to this five-clone coterie.

Nitpicks? Sure! First of all, Obi-Wan once again has a lightsaber duel with General Grievous and, let's face it, it's starting to feel like duel number 3,000,0000 with those two.

The other nitpick requires a bit SPOILER ALERT! Do not read past if you have not seen this episode!

The death of 99 is yet another example of them pulling the trigger, literally, on character's too soon. 99 is a fantastic character whose death could have been absolutely tragic. By introducing him and killing him off in the course of less than an hour, the writers robbed themselves, and the viewers, of a terrific extended and well-earned story arc.

SPOILER FINISHED

That all being said, I loved watching this episode, and certainly hope there's more extended and impressive battles like these in the future.

Rating (out of five): **** 1/2

BONUS.

Thanks to the guys over at MF.com for posting this deleted scene. One can see pretty quickly why it was cut out. Still, though...bad ass.

The Clone Wars Season Three - ARC Troopers Deleted Scene II
Uploaded by millenniumfalcon. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

Season 3, Episode 1 - Clone Cadets

2010-09-20T17:31:00.000-07:00

Star Wars: The Clone Wars begins the third season with it's focus squarely on the clones themselves. The first episode, Clone Cadets, and the second, Arc Troopers, chronologically bookend the fifth episode of season 1, "Rookies." Here, we meet Fives, Echo, Droidbait, Hevy and Cutup. They're learning here to work together as a team, training on the clone "homeworld" of Kamino.

In many ways, Clone Cadets is extremely conventional: a sort of Bad News Bears Go To War. Heard this before? "A plucky squad of misfits must to work together and gain confidence in themselves. Only then will they come together and earn their place as soldiers. Along the way, we learn that their greatest strength is not only their unity, but their creativity and individuality."

It doesn't remake the wheel. Still, Clone Cadets deepens our relationships to this band of brothers, and retroactively deepens the already excellent episode "Rookies." It also features some well-staged action sequences, and one of my favorite new characters ... 99. 99, a misshapen and seemingly aged clone, who wants nothing more than to be accepted as a member of his people. He relates to, defends, and aids our heroes. (More on 99 in my review of this episode's follow up - Arc Troopers.)

The work in this episode even further speaks to the brilliance of Dee Bradley Baker, who marks each clone with distinctiveness. It's terrific work, and when a new clone shows up like 99, it's all the more apparent.

Other new characters include the bounty hunters hired to train the clones: Bric and El-Es. They show potential, but I felt they weren't all that necessary. Might it have been better to let Shaak Ti, an audience favorite, take center-stage instead of sharing it with even more new voices?

If Clone Cadets isn't quite as iconic an episode as Rookies, and even if it relies a bit too heavily on story convention, it's an excellent episode in it's own right. Welcome back, Clone Wars!

Rating (out of five): *** 1/2

New poll

2010-09-17T06:59:00.001-07:00

New fun Season 3 poll is up!

Season 3 is upon us!

2010-09-17T06:54:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Obviously, I've been intermittently updating this blog. Never fear: full episode reviews of each Season 3 episode will appear here weekly.

I am getting married in a month. Those of you who have ever gone through wedding planning know, it's quite a hectic time. Still, I'm excited to continue to offer my thoughts as long as you care to read them.

Tell George Lucas To Bring Back Yaddle!

2010-07-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

Check out this Facebook group. I fully support this. You should join and send this around!

Yaddle would be a super amazing character for the Clone Wars series. Who wouldn't want to see Yaddle and Yoda squabbling? C'mon. This would be terrific.

New poll - What do you want to see in Season 3?

2010-07-26T07:32:00.000-07:00

Check it out! Up for one week! Voting is open!

Season 3 Trailer Online

2010-07-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

Here! Dark-ish tone. Ahsoka having prophetic dreams and such.

Favorite New Characters from Season 2? - A Tie!

2010-07-26T07:26:00.000-07:00

My last poll asked who your favorite new character from Season 2 was? With 30% each, Satine and Embo. Just goes to show the power of the image. Embo appeared in one episode and speaks barely a grunt.

This week's poll

2010-07-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

Who was your favorite character that was introduced in Season 2? Remember Cut Lawquane? Admiral Trench? Embo? Duchess Satine?

Who was your favorite from Season 2?

Obi-Wan wins our favorite main character from Season 2 poll

2010-07-06T07:33:00.001-07:00

Obi-Wan Kenobi received 48% of the votes, followed by Anakin Skywalker with 20% and Captain Rex with 20%.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Season 2 Review Round Up

2010-07-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

Thought it might be useful to see all my reviews in one post.

Holocron Heist **** ½

Cargo of Doom *****

Children of the Force *** ½

Senate Spy **

Landing at Point Rain **** ¾

Weapons Factory ****

Legacy of Terror *** 3/4

Brain Invaders ****

Grievous Intrigue ***

The Deserter ****

Lightsaber Lost **

Madalore Trilogy *****

Senate Murders ***

Cat & Mouse *** ¾

Bounty Hunters *** ½

The Zillo Beast *****

The Zillo Beast Strikes Back **** ¾

The “Fett Trilogy” ***

I’d say that maybe I should have gone the extra quarter star on Landing at Point Rain, but that’s neither here nor there. Definitely a great season, with lots of nuance and action. I wasn’t that thrilled by the final three, but they were more than made up for my the Zillo Beast episodes, the Mandalore Trilogy and the entire Geonosis Campaign.

The Bounty Hunters were definitely infused in the action of the season, but I felt like the real tag line for this season was scale. Everything felt bigger, grander.

Might I add that Rob Coleman needs to be give 2 hours and a script and just direct a made-for-DVD movie? Because his work is amazing.

What was your assesment of Season 2? Did the Bounty Hunters live up to advance billing?

Next Poll: Favorite Main Character from Season 2

2010-06-29T06:48:00.000-07:00

Soon I'll ask about the newly introduced characters...but who was your favorite character this season from the main cast? Polling will be open for a week.

Landing at Point Rain gets the vote in first poll

2010-06-29T06:46:00.001-07:00

Within the five choices of The Best of Season 2...

Landing at Point Rain received 42% of the vote, followed by Cargo of Doom with 23% and the Mandalore Plot with 19%.

Thanks for voting!

Interestingly, some commentors thought Children of the Force should be included. I definitely liked the episode, but I don't remember being as floored by it as some. Here's my review of it from its original airing.

What Was The Best Episode Of Season 2?

2010-06-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

I've added a poll to the sidebar. One week of voting. Just thought it'd be fun. If you disagree with my choices...oh well. My blog. I make it up. You might, though, let me know what you think I missed in the sidebar.

I'm hoping to update with a new poll each week on Mondays.

Quick thoughts

2010-06-12T23:15:00.000-07:00

So I posted the final reviews for Season 2 below. Great season, and I can't wait to pick up the Blu-Ray discs in October. I'll try to post thoughts here and there when I can. Thanks for being patient everyone. I love comments on the reviews, so comment away, even on older stuff. I read all the comments for sure.

Season 2, Episodes 21, 22, and 23 - The "Fett Trilogy"

2010-06-12T22:42:00.000-07:00

Okay everyone. My apologies. I've had quite a bit going on, what with my recent engagement, my wedding approaching quickly, and having two plays going on in New York City last month. (More hints at the identity of CloneWarsFan...) It's been a fine time, but I've neglected you good people.

Instead of trying to write up three separate posts and continuing to delay, I'm going to review all three of the final episodes of Season 2 at once, as they comprise a "trilogy arc" much like Malevolence or the Mandalorian episodes did.

The three episodes in question (Lethal Trackdown, R2 Come Home and Death Trap) give fans of the prequel trilogy a payoff that they've been waiting for since 2002. We finally see young Boba Fett attempt to enact revenge on Mace Windu as it was foreshadowed in Attack of the Clones.

Excellent material and especially for so iconic a character. Boba Fett's spirit has been throughout this season, as Bounty Hunters and Mandalorians have been hanging from the ceilings and stealing Holocrons throughout. Still, though, I can't say I found these episodes to be the series strongest. Primarily because Fett gets a bit of the Anakin Skywalker treatment, and it's treatment that doesn't fit quite as well. If you'll allow me to explain...

In these episodes, we see a distraught kid who has fallen in with a group of assassins because he believes its the only way to avenge his father's death. That's perfectly fine. This kid is, while occasionally showing flashes of rage and darkness, primarily a good kid who is confused and feels bad about what he's doing. That, shall we say, is not what is exciting about Boba Fett. It might be a logical extension of the story, but it's not, maybe, the most thrilling way to re-introduce the galaxies most dangerous Bounty Hunter. Hell, when did you ever think you'd see Boba Fett...apologize?

It sort of reminds me of Transformers 2. Wait, wait, hear me out.

What is the best darn thing about the Transformers? Optimus Prime. What is one of the few really awesome things about these Transformers live action movies? How great Optimus Prime looks and that they use his original voice. So what happens in the nearly 3 hour Transformers 2? Optimus Prime [SPOILER ALERT] spends about 2 1/2 hours of the movie ... dead? Great. That's what I paid to see.

Same goes for Boba Fett. I think his childhood is a perfectly reasonable subject to explore. But why spend nearly half of our time with him watching him fret? His moments of verve and cool calculation are what we want to see. Why deny us that pleasure in an effort to add not-so-necessary complexity?

That isn't to say that there isn't some really strong animation and worthy moments within these episodes. The first, Deathtrap, shows Boba infiltrating the Republic Fleet in a way that is almost too perfect: he walks right in as a clone. It's solid set up for the next episode.

The strongest, in grand Star Wars tradition, is the middle chapter. R2 Come Home not only has some wonderful sweeping visuals - the crashed Star Destroyer is quite a sight - but it's an homage to, of all things, Lassie. It's explosive, inventive, and excels at staging a patented "daring escape."

The final episode, which brings us full circle for the season, is called Lethal Trackdown. It's essentially a sort of police procedural, headed up by Ahsoka Tano and Plo Koon. It's a bit of a pedestrian affair, and neither Plo Koon nor Ahsoka have really matured much as characters, but it was well-written and staged just the same.

The final moments, featuring the aforementioned apology and also a threat, seem to bring us back where we started. It's also sort of a non-cliffhanger. We don't know what's going to happen next exactly... but we do know where this is all headed, so it's not a nail biter.

While, as you can tell, I didn't feel like Season 2's final episodes were as fantastic as the strongest episodes of this season... I can say without a doubt that the season as a whole was breathtaking new Star Wars. If the Fett Trilogy wasn't as canonical as I'd hoped, it certainly showed that the standards I have are increasing. Some episodes of the series are so strong that average episodes stick out a bit more.

Overall, I'd say that Deathtrap was an average ** 1/2, RS Come Home as *** 1/2 and Lethal Trackdown was basically somewhere in between or ***. So...

Rating (out of five): ***

Delay

2010-05-05T07:01:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

I will do full recaps of the end of Season 2 shortly! I recently got engaged! So, obviously, that's been taking up a lot of my free time!

Season 2, Episode 19 - The Zillo Beast Strikes Back

2010-04-20T08:20:00.001-07:00

Immediately following the spectacular episode The Zillo Beast is this mini-sequel: The Zillo Beast Strikes Back! In the spirit of Toho, this episode shows us the beast rampaging through Coruscant itself. It's as if the planet has finally found it's true purpose. Sure, a city-planet looks cool in a movie. To a giant lizard, though, it might as well be made entirely of targets.

The episode continues on the course of the previous one, showing us the unethical and expedient logic of Palpatine, as he attempts to corrupt the Republic around him. What a wonderful turn of events that only the Zillo Beast seems to see him as a direct threat, and makes a very real attempt to kill him. The Zillo Beast vs. Palpatine dynamic drives the action, and gives the overall story arc a whole lot more than just watching Zillo go nuts.

I definitely enjoyed the whirling action and the unethical machinations of Palpatine throughout. Great visuals pervade and the way we begin to feel for the beast is reminiscent of Godzilla in all the right ways. Perhaps only the smallest little nitpick would be that the Zillo Beasts armor is established to be weapons grade as of the last episode, so watching Yoda hack away at it with a lightsaber to no effect, and watching guards just shoot at it blindly, seemed somewhat lazy.

All in all, though, a great follow up and excellent episode

Rating (out of five): **** 3/4

Season 2, Episode 18 - The Zillo Beast

2010-04-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

Okay. Yeah. That was awesome. Where to start?

First of all, the Zillo Beast is an episode that introduces us to the Star Wars equivalent of Godzilla. It's like someone got their chocolate in my peanut butter.

One of the facts that makes Star Wars such an enduring universe is how adaptable it is by nature. It's a mythology of spare parts and mash-ups. That's why Clone Wars episodes that quote the films themselves are less, perhaps, in the spirit of Star Wars than episodes that appropriate new material.

The issue I had with Bounty Hunters was that it took a four hour epic and crammed it into 22 minutes. Godzilla, to me, often seems full of filler in between Man In Suit rampages. The Zillo Beast never feels like there's less of what you'd want. It's filled with action on a mammoth scale, but it doesn't let the spectacle stomp all over the story.

Taking place on Malastare, populated with Dugs, the Zillo Beast addresses some honestly complex issues for our heroes. Malastare's leader Doge Urus drives a hard bargain with the Jedi, knowing that the Republic needs their fuel rich mines to fund the war effort. When the use of a highly volatile weapon - the Electro-Proton Bomb - uncovers an ancient sleeping creature, the Dugs insist that it be killed. The Jedi resist the taking of the life of the beast, the last of its kind. But is the life of a single creature worth alienating the Dugs and their necessary allegiance?

Anakin eventually finds a way to split the difference (the beat itself could be used for weapons research) but that doesn't solve the problem of disturbing a practically unstoppable force.

Inevitably, the Beast goes on a classic rampage, complete with Wilhem scream, tossing tanks, and stomping on troopers. The creative team makes The Beat both sympathetic and terrible. By the time the Beast is brought down, in a perfect moment, we see the hubris of the Republic leadership promise more carnage (see: the next episode). It's classic Godzilla. The folly, as always, is ours.

By taking time to highlight the ambiguity of the Jedi's place in the war, and infusing that with a joyful explosion of beautifully cinematic nostalgia and mayhem, The Zillo Beast is a fanboy's dream episode. One of the best of the series.

Rating (out of five): *****

Season 2, Episode 17 - Bounty Hunters

2010-04-05T17:06:00.000-07:00

Bounty Hunters begins with a dedication to director Akira Kurosawa, whose work has been an inspiration to the Star Wars universe since the very first film. This episode is an homage to one of his most well-known and imitated works, The Seven Samurai.

Anakin, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan find themselves marooned in a remote area of Felucia, in the middle of a conflict between pirates, a local farming community, and some hired guns (the Bounty Hunters in question). Obi-Wan isn't eager to get too involved in the dispute, but when push comes to shove, and their old "friend" Honda Ohnaka shows himself; the Jedi partner with the Bounty Hunters to protect and train the less-than-imposing Felucians.

The episode itself is fun, light, and the action sequences especially stood out. The new Bounty Hunters we meet are Embo, Rumi Paramita, and Seripas. All three are welcome additions to the growing cast of the Clone Wars. Embo, especially, makes a smashing impression as a silent, Samurai inspired bad-ass.

Bounty Hunters did, though, feel a bit truncated. Some of that is simply knowledge of the source material. The Seven Samurai is a nearly four hour epic. At 22 minutes, a single Clone Wars episode can pack a lot of punch, and even show us the Cliff Notes of a classic, but there's not enough time to really feel the learning curve of the farmers or the hard-won camaraderie of our heroes. The Felucians go from terrified to bringing the full Ewok seemingly overnight. It's not that it's a bad story, it's just hard to make it believable in the time allotted.

Still, raise your hands if you wouldn't watch The Adventures of Embo?

*looks around the class*

That's what I thought.

Rating (out of five): *** 1/2

Season 2, Episode 16 - Cat and Mouse

2010-03-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

In the first season of The Clone Wars, Storm Over Ryloth tried to offer Star Wars fans a strategic duel between generals in outer space - going so far as to make a reference to Grand Admiral Thrawn from the Timothy Zahn books. It was, in my eyes, one of the least successful episodes of the first season. Cat and Mouse has almost exactly the same premise, and it fares far better with clearer choices and smarter writing.

In Cat and Mouse, Anakin and Admiral Yularen are trying to break through a Separatist blockade and bring supplies to the besieged Bail Organa on the surface of Christophsis. Chronologically, (according to the official site) it takes places immediately before the events of The Hidden Enemy, which would then be immediately be followed by the 2008 feature. The episode focuses on Anakin's use of a prototype stealth fighter to break through the lines and overcome the formidable Admiral Trench.

Trench isn't the first character invented solely for the animated series, but he is one of the most memorable. It's not only because of his look (a humanoid Tarantula); it's because of how well the script supports him. He's shown immediately backing Anakin off of the battle (not easily done).Then, in a scene that shows the increasingly depth of character the animation can bring forth, Admiral Yularen explains in hushed tones just how dangerous Trench can be. By building Trench up as an idea, half the work is done before Anakin ever engages with him.

This episode was heavy on quoting (the show abuses quoting lines from the films a bit too much at times) but this episode seemed to have a good sense of how quoting can be used in a way that's clever and sly. Bail Organa literally saying himself "Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're our only hope" was a highlight for me.

Anakin's showdown with Trench, too, was exciting. Anakin's maneuvers seemed deft and daring in equal parts, and there was never, for me, a lapse in logic that distracted from the chess-match tone.

I also liked how this episode extended the mythologizing of the Battle of Christophsis. Raising up specific engagements in the Clone Wars is a smart frame for the series ongoing. I'm curious to see if other battles take on this type of life. I know that the Clone Wars movie's opening sequence was already augmented for me by The Hidden Enemy. Cat and Mouse only adds to this effect.

There were only a few minor issues that kept this episode from perfection for me. First was the throwaway "Welcome to the Army, Rookie!" subplot that seemed to have been largely cut down from a longer version of the episode. The other is that the episode's outcome, while exciting, seemed to knock down Trench just after he had been so effectively built. I'd love a little more long term thinking with these villains. Imagine a character like Trench that isn't defeated until Season 3. That's a moment worth waiting for. Patience, after all, is the Jedi way.

Rating (out of five): *** 3/4

Season 2, Episode 15 - Senate Murders

2010-03-19T20:30:00.000-07:00

Much like the fourth episode of Season 2, Senate Spy, Senate Murders follows Padme Amidala's work in the Galactic Senate. 75% less laser guns, to be sure. As one might guess, Senate Murders is about some Senators getting murdered. It's up to our serious and determined heroine, Senator Amidala, to make things right.

Senate Spy had its heart in the right place, but failed (for me) to really hang together as a cohesive piece of storytelling. The tone just wandered around a bit too much. Senate Murders is far clearer and more effective. A character we know from Season 1's Bombad Jedi, Rodian Senator Onocanda Farr, dies mysteriously, directly after his coalition with Padme makes its case in the Senate to reduce funding for the war. I won't give away the ending, but I'll say it's pretty much a dead-on genre piece of short mystery writing, complete with red herrings and reveals.

What works well is this singular sense of purpose. Senate Murders sticks rather slavishly to a formula, and in doing so, is effective entertainment and it elegantly resolves.

It also gets Padme right, which is something that doesn't happen as often as it should. Padme just isn't a plucky wisecracker like Leia was (will be?). Padme is a serious woman, and its always best when she's played with a sense of single-mindedness and stubbornness. That's not to say she's humorless. It's just that her defining trait seems less her bravado and more her keen sense of what's just and true.

The existing characters from the films - Bail Organa, Mon Mothma - are well written and animated. They seem to fit well with Padme, and its clear that they could carry future episodes or story arcs themselves. The newer characters were a mixed bag. Kaminoan Senator Halle Burtoni is a fun invention, aged and mean-spirited. Not what we've come to expect from Kaminoans at all.

Lt. Divo, though, just didn't quite do it for me. It was clear the idea was a sort of bumbling detective, but the voice acting here (by voice acting star Tom Kenny of SpongeBob fame) just is a bit distracting and over the top. Also, Divo never seemed funny enough to be truly enjoyable to watch, or effective enough at his job to add much to the proceedings. I'm open to seeing more of the character, but this wasn't an auspicious debut.

The other thing that kept this episode from being among my favorites was simply that it felt a bit too by-the-book. Much of what happened never really felt in doubt to me, and while it was all perfectly acceptable, it never really soared. I think, perhaps, I'd like to see a story like this one over several episodes, much like many of the show's story arcs. If this mystery was resolved in three episodes as opposed to in 22 minutes, it would have packed a bit more punch. At least as good a punch as, apparently, Senator Amidala can throw

Rating (out of five): ***

Senate Murders preview

2010-03-18T06:55:00.001-07:00

Hm. I'll reserve judgment, but this doesn't exactly make me go nuts with anticipation.

Episode Reviews is now on Twitter

2010-03-17T08:13:00.001-07:00

Follow me here.

Season 2, Episodes 12 - 14 - The Mandalore Trilogy

2010-03-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Clearly, I'm way behind on my reviews. So I'm going to catch up quickly but reviewing in total the last three episodes: The Mandalore Plot, Voyage of Temptation, and The Dutchess of Mandalore. These three episodes compose an arc that is nothing less than superb.

The story: Prompted by a series of terrorist actions by a rebel group called DeathWatch, Obi-Wan Kenobi is dispatched to Mandalore in order to see if Republic intervention is necessary. The Dutchess of Mandalore is Satine, who is dedicated to being a neutral party in the Clone Wars. She and Obi-Wan, we discover, have a rich personal history that frames and supports the story.

These three episodes have just about everything you'd want in a prequel era story. They deepen our understanding of Obi-Wan Kenobi, they offer us a wider perspective on the Star Wars universe, they open us up to iconic but as-yet-unseen worlds, and they offer intrigue, adventure, and action. I can't speak highly enough about the final few moments of Voyage of Temptation, where writer Paul Dini is able to create a wonderful dilemma and make gleefully vicious reference to Anakin's fate, all in one swift stroke.

Of course, one of the great pleasures of the series is seeing the Mandalorians, or at least a sect of them dedicated to their war-like history, in action. The design of this armor is arguably one of the most enduring in Star Wars. It's a part of not only the Fett visuals, but became the template for the Clone Warriors pre-stormtrooper gear as well. To see where it supposedly "all comes from" was a thrill.

Plus...black energy lightsaber? Come now. That's just so right that it almost felt... wrong.

Rating (out of five): *****

I'll be back on schedule from now on. I'm putting a play up in New York City (Will be ruin his anonymity, they ask?) and it's been keeping me very busy.

Season 2, Episode 11 - Lightsaber Lost

2010-01-29T20:22:00.000-08:00

Lightsaber Lost, the eleventh episode of Season 2, gets a resounding *shrug* from me. (Therefore, prepare yourself for my shortest ever review!) It felt like we received lessons with a subtlety hammer (Don't Lose Your Lightsaber! Slow Down, Youngster!). It also made Coruscant look, in places, a bit empty. No small feat. Most of the episode is a chase sequence, which I felt was perfectly fine, but hardly inventive.

I generally liked Tera Senube, a new character and I'm always happy to see the showrunners give us something we haven't seen before. Still, this sort of aging detective felt a bit cliche. 'Slow and steady wins the race' is a great lesson for this show's younger audience, but it bored the heck out of me.

And, finally, I'd love to see the "underworld" of Coruscant treated with a bit less disdain by the Jedi. There's a moment early in the episode when Ahsoka sees a citizen coughing in the street. He isn't committing a crime and we don't see his face. But she turns her nose up to him. Not exactly a compassionate response to what looked like...poverty? Yeah. That's the word.

Extra star for a few new characters and a nod to Attack of the Clones. Still, this episode was firmly aimed at the "new generation" of Star Wars fan. Meaning: ages 10 and under.

Rating (out of five): **

Season 2, Episode 10 - The Deserter

2010-01-05T10:49:00.000-08:00

The Deserter is the second part of the "Let's go find Grievous and kill him" duology. The prior installment is chock full of lightsaber duels and daring escapes. The Deserter is the opposite. Instead of providing fans with retreads of old thrills, it asks questions about choice and individuality.

As Obi-Wan leads an attack on the surface of Saleucami, Captain Rex finds himself in trouble. Shot by an enemy sniper, he needs serious medical attention. His clone retinue decide to leave him in the care of a local family, while they seek help.

The head of that particular household turns out to be Cut Lawquane... a clone who has left the army.

What follows is nearly essential viewing for any Star Wars fan. Certainly the series has promised to explore what it means to be a clone, and how they become individuals through their experiences; but this episode allows a clone to make greater choice than what his haircut looks like, or if he likes the Jedi. In The Deserter, Cut Lawquane asks Rex essential questions about what it means to fight in the Clone Wars, and why a clone's identity is bound to military service.

As a character, Captain Rex has incredible potential. Unlike Commander Cody, we don't see him in Episode III, so his actions are not pre-ordained. We can watch him learn, what him experience new things, and we don't know his fate. If he were to be, for example, shot by a sniper: he could die. There's nothing preventing it except the will of the writers.

No small credit must be given to Dee Bradley Baker. His work on this series is astonishing. I know quite a few people who work in voiceover, and it is no small feat to distinguish tens of characters who have, essentially, the same voice. I certainly hope he's paid by the character. The scenes between Rex and Lawquane are beautifully performed.

This episode isn't perfect, of course. There's a bit of a pat ending as the two clones defend the homestead together, for example. But The Deserter lives into the spirit of an Expanded Universe. We meet new characters, learn who they are, and learn to care about them.

Rating (out of five): ****

Season 2, Episode 9 - Grievous Intrigue

2010-01-03T17:31:00.000-08:00

The first of a two-parter, Grievous Intrigue is curiously titled. The episode is certainly fun, fueled by punchy lightsaber battles, nail-biting escapes and tense battles. It also nods its head to the question of Grievous's motivations, and his skill as a tactician. It is, though, not an episode that offers much that's new, besides character models and taut animation. There wasn't... intrigue.

What happens? Grievous attacks a Republic envoy, and takes Eeth Koth hostage. An attempt to capture Grievous and rescue follow. Beautifully animated, well-staged, dark and fun. Catnip for Star Wars fans. I can't say I didn't enjoy it on a basic fan level. I certainly did and, if you're reading this, you probably did too, or will.

The problem is that a fair amount of the tension is taken out of episodes like these by their very nature. Anakin doesn't meet Grievous until Episode III. Which means they do not meet here. Grievous doesn't die here, neither does Obi-Wan. Koth, frankly, could have died here but I don't feel particularly invested in him at this point. In short, the outcome is decided. The tension is there in form (well edited, well put together) but if you're a fan like me, and not 10 years old and new to the Star Wars universe, I can't imagine you're gripping your chair as you watch.

Also, loathe as I am to admit this, lightsaber duels have come dangerously close to overkill. Where once I would thrill to see a single duel, now I feel like there isn't a lightsaber move left that I haven't seen. When Darth Maul showed up in Episode I, I was floored. Now, when Grievous whisks around 36 lightsabers, I resist the urge to look at my watch. I am a Star Wars fan and do not want to feel this way. Episodes like this one, practically covered in lightsabers, need to be doled out carefully.

Does this all sound like the complaints of a curmudgeon? Maybe so. I can't say this episode wasn't a rollercoaster. But there's more depth to mine in the Star Wars universe (see: the next episode of this series) and there's no need to feel deja vu.

Rating (out of five): ***

Season 2, Episode 8 - Brain Invaders

2009-12-07T09:11:00.001-08:00

As the picture above might imply, these are some nasty tapeworms. At least they don't make you buy lots and lots of cats. Brain Invaders, which appears to be the last episode in the Geonosis story arc, doesn't take surprising narrative turns. But it does have character flourishes that elevate it in ways I wasn't expecting. While the basic plot (mind controlling parasites!) is extremely B-movie, the writers deepen what is clearly the uber-narrative of the Clone Wars series: who is (was?) Anakin Skywalker?

In this episode, Ahsoka and Barriss are aboard a starship that's overrun by Geonosian mind-controlling worms. Not only are they desperately attempting to save their own lives, but there's a crisis of timing as well. If the ship docks at a medical bay, the worms will hit a central hub and spread throughout the Republic's army.

Anakin, for his part, is trying to get answers from Poggle the Lesser. In an exceptional sequence, in an effort to extract information about his Padawan's whereabouts and how to stop the worms, he gives us the full Vader. His willingness to use force and power to get results is a stark reminder of what's to come. The series can afford this: Anakin's story needs this and heroism in balance in order to make sense and be worthy of watching in a serialized format.

I initially found Ahsoka Tano almost unbearably off-putting, but I've got to admit that the direction her character is taking is starting to become clear and it's improving. Having a confidant of her own in Barriss Offee allows us to hear her own insights on Anakin's behavior, even as she's clearly deeply influenced by him. That made her own final moment with Anakin in this episode (no spoilers to those who haven't seen it) one of my favorites of Season 2. Even in a moment where we feel she's truly done her best, and has triumphed, Anakin's lesson isn't one that serves him, or the Republic, well in the long run.

While the basic premise (Invasion of the Body Snatchers!) didn't blow me away , I found the character moments stellar. Brain Invaders rises above what could have been cliched material by letting the characters breathe, and embracing the elusiveness of Anakin's moral center.

Rating (out of five): ****

Season 2, Episode 7 - Legacy of Terror

2009-11-24T10:18:00.000-08:00

Note: Sorry I'm a bit behind on the episode reviews! Will get caught up posthaste!

Legacy of Terror seems timely given the release of Star Wars: Death Troopers. This episode features lots of creepy-crawlies. It feels very much like a tribute to Aliens, and a nod to the current craze of zombie-movies. It's also got some of the strongest dialogue the series has thus far featured.

Following Poggle the Lesser to a remote and seemingly abandoned temple, Luminara Unduli goes missing. Obi-Wan and Anakin retrace her steps to locate and possibly rescue her. As they brave the catacombs beneath the temple, they find...undead Geonosians. And far more.

The episode felt fresh to me. Well, fresh enough. The clear allusions to Aliens (note how Queen Karina) lays her eggs aren't so much original as well-chosen. But perhaps that can be said of a whole lot of the influence laden Star Wars universe. Either way, I loved the old fashioned feeling of certain moments, like when two clones get sent back to the surface and are, very clearly, about to go to clone heaven. We haven't seen this in Star Wars very often, though, and I enjoyed seeing the characters in a new setting and under different types of duress. There are only so many ways to show big battles, anyhow.

The Queen, as a new character, was wonderfully established and suitably chilly. More than that, though, I'm enjoying the confidence that the writers now have with Obi-Wan and Anakin. Their banter here was super fun ("I was going to study that!" "Study the bottom of my boot!"), and Obi-Wans almost unnerving calm, pointed humor, and distanced curiosity in this episode is something I'd love to see played even further.

Weapons Factory (the previous episode) and Legacy of Terror go a long way to re-defining Geonosis as a world of underground catacombs, hive-minded insects, and mysterious forces. It's exactly what the Clone Wars can do that films can't: take time to indulge in exploration that can be only hinted at in even a 2 1/2 hour movie.

So, while this episode wasn't groundbreaking or heartbreaking, it had great character moments, and took Star Wars in places we haven't seen. All in a days work.

Rating: (out of five): *** 3/4

Season 2, Episode 6 - Weapons Factory

2009-11-24T09:56:00.001-08:00

Beginning immediately after the events of Landing At Point Rain, this episode contrasts Anakin's relationship with Ahsoka and Luminara Unduli's relationship with her Padawan, Barriss Offee. It's another strong episode, carefully avoiding obvious story points and, in the midst of more well-staged action, feels emotionally grounded.

The action is two-tiered: Anakin and Luminara lead the clone army in a full-frontal assault on Poggle the Lesser's forces on Geonosis, while the Padawan's slip underground into a maze of tunnels. The Padawan's mission is to plant charges and escape. The battle is a diversion, but one that's a lot of fun to watch.

The relationship between Master and Padawan is highlighted again here: Ahsoka, already a willful kid, has learned to be daring, even reckless, from Anakin. But she's also learned to improvise, and never give up. Barriss has learned the importance of selflessness from Luminara, and the importance of being well-prepared. You see in Barriss and Luminara the weight of their actions, a sense that lives are at stake. They'd never play a game about counting Droids as clones die around them.

When the premise was set up this way, I was concerned that we'd see Ahsoka rebel and sulk in the shadow of her straight-laced counterpart and we'd get a series of mini-contests or something comparably dull. Instead, Ahsoka never shows Barriss anything but respect. She's just different, but she never seems competitive with her peer. She seems annoyed by Anakin, but eager to do well and win the day.

I liked how the episode left the viewer with a very ambiguous message. Certainly, we see Anakin's refusal to let Ahsoka go pay off... this time. The lesson would seem to "never give up." But Luminara reminds us that refusal to accept what one cannot change is not the Jedi way. It's this very good impulse in Anakin, this seemingly heroic impulse, that also drives his ultimate turn to the Dark Side.

If I had any mild critique of this episode it's that Anakin and Ahsoka's bickering felt a bit contrived in the beginning of the episode. We've already seen Anakin be extremely gentle with Ahsoka in previous episodes, so this felt a bit like the writers illustrating a point more than following through with the character's relationships. Also, after the groundbreaking action of the last episode, and the not-exactly-new message here, I never felt like I was watching anything truly special. Just another strong adventure.

Nonetheless, this Geonosisan campaign has been fantastic thus far.

Rating (out of five): ****

Season 2, Episode 5 - Landing at Point Rain

2009-11-04T18:53:00.000-08:00

Landing at Point Rain, the fifth episode of season two, is the eye-popping opening to a new story arc. It features the return to Geonosis, the planet that marked the beginning of the Clone Wars themselves in Attack of the Clones, and, suitably, to the type of ground battle that become the high point of Episode II.

After some quick exposition, and a classic Star Wars "pointer scene" ("We'll land here and then rendezvous here..."), the episode hits the accelerator and starts firing lasers and throwing flames. This episode is overflowing with terrific battles that would have fit comfortably, both in spirit and in execution, on the big screen. There are even moments of inventiveness that improve upon the execution of the original Episode II battle, with dogfighting, the aforementioned flamethrowers, and the huge set piece at a fortified wall.

There's more here than just watching the animators flex their computerized muscles. The episode shows our heroes in the midst of real peril, and there are moments of characterization that show just how much the series has matured. Obi-Wan's relationship with Anakin and Ahsoka has become defined. I guess I'm going to have to live with the "How many did you get?" game; but it was nice to hear a major character question it, too. Hopefully, the game of "gotcha" will feel more and more inappropriate as the series flies forward.

Ki-Adi Mundi makes his Clone Wars debut here. I have to say, of all the exaggerated models that the show uses, his looks the most odd to me. Also, I continue to want to see bigger differences of character between Ki-Adi Mundi, Plo Koon and Mace Windu. Basically, all three are wise Jedi, with the same basic build and different heads, all good in a fight. Sure, we've seen that Mace Windu has a slightly different level of swagger, but that is just because of the famous actor that bears his likeness. Even a small specific trait would help each. I like them all...but who are they? It's been ten years since we first saw Ki-Adi Mundi. I still don't know what he's about.

Also...when did they call it Point Rain in the episode? Did I miss that?

That's all relatively minor. There were many standout moments.The tribute shot to The Longest Yard was certainly one. Obi-Wan, forcing himself to his feet and igniting his lightsaber, as if he's about to make a last stand...? Incredible, subtle shot. The fortress wall reminded me of the Battle of Helm's Deep from Lord of the Rings from reverse. Nice to see Waxer and Boil (from Innocents on Ryloth) show up in the episode, along with Commander Jet who appeared in Ambush. We're getting to know clones beyond Rex and Cody, which is a very good direction.

Season 2 has been exceptional so far. Landing on Point Rain is a bursting, cinematic episode that pays tribute to great war films. It's also a sterling example of what The Clone Wars should be: a series about war.

Rating (out of five): **** 3/4

Who is the Padawan standing behind President Obama?

2009-11-02T14:04:00.001-08:00

Looks like...Ahsoka Tano?

Death Troopers

2009-10-17T23:41:00.000-07:00

Even though I post here anonymously, I will reveal this much

1) I personally know the guy who provided the vocals for the audio book version of Death Troopers
2) I think he does a terrific job!
3) you should get the audio book version from audible or iTunes and enjoy!

I'm about half way through listening to it, and it's quite a fun story. Certainly different, even grisly, but a well-told yarn so far. Not for little kids, but I think it's fun. Star Wars has always encompassed all sorts of great genre fiction. Why not horror?

Season 2, Episode 4 - Senate Spy

2009-10-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

I would like to applaud the impulse that undoubtedly drove “Senate Spy.” This episode of the Clone Wars was focused solely on character and plot; it was the only episode in the 26 aired episodes that featured exactly zero clone troopers, space battles or lightsaber duels. If the creative team was out to prove that the Clone Wars was about more than fighting, they did that much.

What they didn’t do was give up the best possible version of a character driven episode. The tone of the episode seemed to shift from slapstick, to politics, to jealousy, to life-and-death without much warning. It never felt entirely coherent, even if intermittent promise was shown.

In this episode, we see a rare visit between Anakin and Padme interrupted by Jedi business. They suspect that new character Senator Clovis is a spy for the Banking Clan, and they’d like Anakin to convince Padme to use her influence with Clovis and doing a little spying herself. Anakin tells her he won’t allow her to get into harm’s way, she takes this about as well as can be expected, and, she winds up traveling with Clovis to Cato Neimoida.

There were a few head-scratchers here. First of all, it seemed contrived that Anakin was deemed the only person capable of convincing Padme to spy for the Republic. No one knows they’re married (always a suspect oversight on its own considering the amazing powers of the Jedi), so why couldn’t Yoda or Obi-Wan or anyone else just tell her why they wanted her to spy for them?

Furthermore, the reason that Padme has been deemed the best choice for this mission is her previous "friendship" with Clovis. I have to say, the insistence on using the word friendship (even when Padme and Clovis are alone!) made the whole thing sound a lot more sordid. Is friendship a euphemism for something in Star Wars? Like S&M? Otherwise, I don't get why they couldn't say "our old romance" or "Clovis used to take me to the Opera" or "Clovis tried to court my affections" or something.

Also, why would a Republic Senator travel to Cato Neimoida with so little concern for her safety in the middle of a war? The Separatists never seemed that hidden to me after Attack of the Clones. Would Padme not be aware for Lott Dodd’s affiliation, even after the Battle on Geonosis? Would Cato Neimoida be about as welcoming to the Republic as Naboo would be to the Separatists? Or am I missing something?

It also bothered me that Clovis never seemed entirely dastardly enough. Perhaps we’re intended to sympathize with him a bit. If so, Anakin’s final act towards him comes off as especially callous. Certainly Clovis is a traitor…but he comes off as relatively honorable and even emotionally invested in Padme. I couldn’t tell if my mixed feelings about him were because that was what was intended, or because the creative team missed the mark a bit.

Finally, Padme’s “I made you doubt me” admission at the end seemed to come entirely out of nowhere. If anything, Anakin’s jealousy in the episode is barely touched on, and when it does come out, it’s juvenile and barely an issue. Even in the second he sees Padme and Clovis embrace, it takes less than a moment for him to understand Padme’s worldless explanation.

I don’t love to nitpick this way, but those were distracting issues for me.

What worked?

I think that even if this episode tried to do a little too much, it did show that the animation could support dramatic scenes on its own merit. The dinner scene with Amidala and Clovis felt entirely natural and well-realized. So did Anakin’s argument with Padme in the Senate. The fact, even, that I had mixed feelings about Clovis’s fate is telling: he became a character with some weight after a few scenes. The dialogue was all snappy and solid. It was nice to see Anakin and Padme scenes that felt clear and fun, without clumsy declarations or forced moments. The more those two come together as characters in this series, the more they deepen the overall mythology of Darth Vader.

So…all in all…”Senate Spy” falls more into the “miss” category. But I’m excited by the direction they’re going with the story telling, and hope to see more episodes like this in the future.

Stars (out of five): **

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 1 Episode Reviews

2009-10-12T07:06:00.000-07:00

For all of you who would like them in one place, here is a roundup of each review from Season 1 of the Clone Wars.

Clone Wars: The Movie

Episode 1 - Ambush

Episode 2 – Rising Malevolence

Episode 3 – Shadow of Malevolence

Episode 4 – Destroy Malevolence

Episode 5 – Rookies

Episode 6 – Downfall of a Droid

Episode 7 – Duel of the Droids

Episode 8 – Bombad Jedi

Episode 9 – Cloak of Darkness

Episode 10 – Lair of Grievous

Episode 11 – Dooku Captured

Episode 12 – The Gungan General

Episode 13 – Jedi Crash

Episode 14 – Defenders of Peace

Episode 15 – Trespass

Episode 16 – The Hidden Enemy

Episode 17 – Blue Shadow Virus

Episode 18 – Mystery of a Thousand Moons

Episode 19 – Storm over Ryloth

Episode 20 – Innocents of Ryloth

Episode 21 – Liberty on Ryloth

Episode 22 – Hostage Crisis

Season 2, Episode 3 - Children of the Force

2009-10-10T08:35:00.000-07:00

The third episode of the Clone Wars second season closes up the first of what are doubtless mini-arcs to come. In this, the production team is nearly showing off: in less than 30 minutes we visit half of the planets in the Star Wars universe. Or, at least, it felt that way. It was a great way to conclude the first mini-trilogy, if not quite as strong as the prior two episodes.

Cargo of Doom (the previous episode) skipped over exposition and threw us directly into the action mid-stream. Children of the Force begins at the exact moment Cargo of Doom ends and flies full throttle for the rest of the half hour. Bane is tasked with finding four force sensitive children and taking them to Mustafar for… experiments. Creepy. The Jedi use all their resources to hunt him down and try to save the children. Good old fashioned premise, brought to fruition in style.

Definitely lots of “wow” factor all over the episode. The planets looked terrific all around, including some wonderful new looks at Rodia, moody lighting on Coruscant (which seems to have three possible wide shots with various lighting choices available), Cad Bane’s lair certainly seemed fresh and imposing, and the above ground Gungan City was a cool new vision. Children of the Force shows how the animation has evolved to great effect.

Also, the season continues its dive towards the Dark Side. Stealing innocent kids from their parents? Putting them in secret labs to mess with their tiny brains? Yikes. The scene where the Jedi triple mind trick Bane also portends some problems for the Jedi. Their behavior is aggressive here, unethical. Still, they are trying to save children. The question being asked, subtly, is: what is the war doing to the Jedi? Great scene, new concept, intriguing.

A few minor quibbles. The episode felt a bit crowded to me. In an effort to move the heroes all over the galaxy in style, it felt like there was a bit too much story for a half-hour and I kept thinking “Wait…how long did it take them to get from here to there?” At a certain point, it felt like a bit like everyone was using teleporters and not spaceships. Obviously, it’s more a problem of perception than logic: we just don’t see the travel time. But it still tested the limits of how much you can pack into a single episode.

Also, the children of the episode, adorable as they were, had an almost Muppet-babies vibe that didn’t really sit right with the gravity of the situation. They all seemed a little too cartoonishly cute, and it was hard to imagine them as children in actual danger. The scripts insistence of referring to them as “kids” and not “children” also seemed to lighten the proceedings accidentally.

And finally, this episode did quite a bit of quoting. Obviously, this is all over Star Wars stylistically, and it made sense in the films (to tie the story of Anakin to the story of Luke.) In the cartoons, though, the quoting can feel a bit overly clever and cute. I understand the choice, but sometimes it takes me out of the moment.

And yes...Anakin apparently went to Mustafar before Episode III. I don't have a solid opinion on that choice, but it's sure to the subject of some consternation among plenty of fans.

Rating (out of five): *** 1/2

Season 2, Episode 2 - Cargo of Doom

2009-10-03T07:59:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if it's my enthusiasm for the new season clouding my vision, but Cargo of Doom, the second part of the season premiere, is the first five-star episode of the series. The characters are vividly drawn, the action sequences are stunningly rendered, the story is thrilling.

Skipping the perfunctory search that was set up in the previous installment, we literally cut to the chase, in Star Wars tradition. From the first moment to the last, Anakin is forced to anticipate and guess as Bane proves a slippery mark. We see Anakin's boldness, of course, but also how it can be used against him. We also see the strains it seems to have put on Anakin's relationship with Yularen, who is finally given an attitude worthy of his position and future in the Empire.

Obviously, the death of Bolla Ropal was calculated to establish Bane's threat: a smartly executed scene, chilling without being grisly. It's also the darkest the Clone Wars series has gone by far. We're unlikely to see many scenes like these in a show that is being billed as family friendly, but it was gratifying to see it here.

The action sequences were all some of the best of the series: the anti-gravity shoot out likely to be a signature of any fans Clone Wars highlight reel. Bane's battle with Ahsoka, the boarding of the ship with walkers... fantastic.

The character work does not get short shrift. Ahsoka's headstrong behavior is put into a far better context now as she is clearly aping Anakin's behavior. Anakin's confrontation with Bane shows just what sort of danger the two of them can get into when faced with a villain more impressive than a Battle Droid. Yularen's anger at the utter failure of their mission is well founded, especially if eagle-eyed viewers catch Bane's escape.

The episode was directed by Rob Coleman, animation director of the prequel trilogy. He directed Downfall of a Droid, Jedi Crash and Liberty of Ryloth...some of the most cinematic and sweeping episodes of the last season. With this episode, he's directed some of the best original Star Wars of the last five years. Someone needs to give the man 120 minutes and a story arc and let him play. His work could easily produce an amazing new Star Wars animated picture.

Rating (out of five:) *****

Season 2, Episode 1 - Holocron Heist

2009-10-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

We're back! Holocron Heist signals a strong second season, without a doubt.

As promised, the animation is stronger, with a larger range of models, sets and more confident uses of perspective and light. It looks terrific, even as it maintains the tone of the previous season. The scale that's dealt with in the season premiere is impressive. We flow from Felucia to various locales in Coruscant with the smooth confidence of the films. The uses of wipes and the speed of the storytelling felt very, for lack of a better description, Star Wars. The opening battle isn't long, but it's beautiful and thrilling all the same.

As wonderful as the animation is, the first episode, written by the always impressive Paul Dini (who also penned last season's Cloak of Darkness), offers up some fantastic story choices. We see a bit of the downside of being Anakin Skywalker's apprentice in Ahsoka's behavior in the early battle, which is a welcome change from the mixed up character arc of Ahsoka last season. We also get a Cad Bane that's just as dangerous as promised. As stock as his character is, he is also written as having some impressive proficiency. Certainly his first appearance at the end of last season was fun, but it didn't hold a candle to Bane in this episode (and the next, especially.) He's starting to feel like they're fighting Batman.

You also have to love the fan-friendly moment of watching Ahsoka battle "Jocasta Nu." I mean, c'mon. No one even knew they wanted to see that.

The other good omen is that the story arc that's set up here is not only compelling, but felt original. The MacGuffins (the Holocron, the Kyber Crystal) work very well, and haven't been overused. Sure, the episode doesn't have closure, but really can't do set up better than this.

Extra half star for finally saying Kyber Crystal, by the way.

Rating (out of five): **** 1/2

Boatloads of Clips from the Season 2 premiere of The Clone Wars

2009-09-30T08:01:00.000-07:00

On TFN they've posted a ton of great clips from the Season 2 Premiere. Wow. I'm definitely looking forward to this season!

Season 1 was exceptional, but clearly evolved from the first episode to the last. Still, technology is only half the battle. Certainly it seems like the animation has become better and better, and Star Wars is always a visual feast. The storytelling, though, is the centerpiece. The Ryloth Trilogy was better animated than the Malevolence Trilogy...but Malevolence was a lot more satisfying as a story. What I'm happy to hear is a focus on what appear to be engaging character arcs. The kiss with Anakin and Padme in the final clip below, for example, is the sort of moment that elevates the stakes in even the most clumsily edited battle.

I'll be revisiting my ratings for the season when the Season 1 compilation comes out on Blu-Ray.

In the meantime, this site will be up and active again. Make sure to add me to your Google Reader or Bloglines or add me to your blogroll.

Check out the clips below!

Clone Wars Season 2 Preview from Walmart

2009-09-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

Click here to see the Walmart preview of Season 2. The code is "bounty hunters."

I keep reading Clone Wars: Rise of the Bounty Hunters. So...is that the title of the first arc of episodes? Or the whole season? Or what?

Clone Wars returns October 2nd with Season 2

2009-08-26T10:10:00.001-07:00

Read about it here!

If Star Wars Was Real

2009-08-11T07:55:00.001-07:00

Have you seen this website? It's awesome.

Expanding the Design of the Clone Wars

2009-07-25T22:24:00.000-07:00

Filoni contrasted the leaps and bounds made by the production team. When the feature film and season one began, Lucasfilm Animation was still being constructed from the ground up. “One simple way to illustrate it very easily, we had Plo Koon — a new character we had built for that. We had three clones that we redressed with different formats. That was largely all we had to build for that episode. No, for the season finale, we had new models of Cad Bane, Aurra Sing, Robonino, a modified pirate for a bounty hunter, a whole bunch of new Senators and background characters. So, just as far as character models, we’ve multiplied what we’re capable of.”

Comic Con: Season 1 DVD Trailer

2009-07-25T22:21:00.000-07:00

A trailer for the Season 1 DVD is posted on starwars.com.

A good advertisement, definitely. And a first look at some of the menu screens and other content.

Comic Con: Clone Wars Season 2 Trailer

2009-07-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

Now on StarWars.com - the Season 2 Official Trailer.

Cool stuff here. Cad Bane goes after a Jedi Holocron. Obi-Wan's got a love interest. Clone Troopers with flame throwers. And Mandalorians. Or something that looks like Mandalorians. Anakin catching Padme hugging another guy too. Man, I do not envy that guy. Across the board, very exciting. Can't wait!

Official Announcement

2009-07-16T05:11:00.000-07:00

Starwars.com officially announces the Season One release here.

November 3rd, 2009!

They note that the Blu-Ray will have something called the Jedi Archives.

Also, it's specified that there are 7 episodes that are expanded: Rising Malevolence, Shadow of Malevolence, Lair of Grievous, Rookies, Storm Over Ryloth, Innocents of Ryloth and Liberty on Ryloth.

The Clone Wars Season 1 Blu-Ray Details

2009-07-06T09:33:00.001-07:00

According to TFN, there's some details out there about the eventually-to-be-released Blu-Ray version of the first season of the Clone Wars. Oh heck yes.

Check out some of these details (found here:)

Original aspect ratios - 2.35:1 (Cartoon Network aired episodes cropped at 1.78:1 for 16:9 displays)
Digibook Packaging - with book (around 40 pages or so) featuring concept drawings and sketches
Director’s Cut Episodes
Commentaries
2D and 3D initial renderings (characters?)

Director's Cut Episodes? Wellllll...that'll be fun. New reviews! Tons of stuff coming up! Also excited to watch these with a better aspect ratio. I have a Blu-Ray player (well, a PS3) and a HD TV, but don't have HD feed on my cable, so I haven't seen these in Hi-Def yet.

Leaked Season 2 Trailer for the Clone Wars

2009-06-23T07:11:00.000-07:00

Well... I'm not going to embed it as there are some who are spoiler averse. There is, though, a leaked trailer for Season 2 that was filmed on a handheld camera. Not sure exactly where it's from. I'm sure it'll go live relatively soon anyhow. But it looks...COOL.

SPOILERS! (Here you go.)

Season 2 is months away - Clone Commandos on the way

2009-06-15T11:25:00.001-07:00

Well, this blog is of course quiet as we await some movement on the Clone Wars front. I'm looking forward to the Blu-Ray release of the entire first season, and will post a review then. Also, there is another four episode release upcoming, which I'll likely buy and review... so you don't have to. This release features "Rookies," and "The Ryloth Trilogy." As a combined affair, it offers some really strong episodes of the series for those of us who want DVD copies of them early. (Except for Storm Over Ryloth, which I wanted to take out and shoot.)

It's the definition of the double-dip, which pisses off a lot of the hardcore fans, but...whatever. Welcome to Capitalism. Parents buy DVDs as babysitters these days.

I haven't been watching Clone Wars Decoded because I've never craved pop-up video with my Clone Wars.

If you're out there checking in over here, I'm curious what you hope to see in Season 2. Season 1 was definitely a strong effort. I liked their insistence on short story arcs. I'd be interested to see a longer overall arc to Season 2. Something that allows for more emotional resonance in its payoff.

What do you think? What do you hope to see?

10 years

2009-05-19T04:20:00.001-07:00

Today is the 10 year anniversary of the release of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Today we all first saw Battle Droids make jokes, met Destroyer Droids ("They have shield generators!), met Anakin Skywalker before he was a burn victim, and were offered a whole new vision of our favorite galaxy far, far away.

May the Force be with you! I hope you're celebrating in style!

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - A Galaxy Divided DVD Review

2009-04-02T20:08:00.001-07:00

UPDATE 4 9 2009!!! (see bottom of the post)

I've taken it upon myself to shell out $15 for this bare bones DVD in order to let all you Clone Wars fans out there know the deal. Obviously, Lucas Animation made it absolutely clear in their press release about this DVD that it 1) contains nothing that won't be released later 2) is entirely bare-bones and 3) the full season set will come out later this year with plenty of extras.

If you're like me, though, George Lucas can use you has his personal ATM machine. Just because Lucas Animation says "Don't buy this DVD! It's for parents looking to entertain their kids trapped in a minivan in the summertime!" that's really so they don't have a guilty conscience. Walking into a roomful of alcoholics with Jack Daniels and saying "Drinking is bad for you!" doesn't mean you're no longer holding a friggin' bottle.

Ahem.

So... what can you actually expect from the DVD? If you have to own it because, God Help You, you must own everything that says Lucasfilm on it? Maybe there's a nifty menu screen? Maybe they tacked on a trailer for Season 2?

Nope.

The DVD menu screen looks very much like it was made hastily with Photoshop. Your options include watch all four episodes in a row or pick an episode. You can also watch these episodes with French, Spanish or Portuguese subtitles. Should you choose to do so. The episodes are presented in the aspect ratio and letterboxing that was used for the Cartoon Network showings. Oddly, the menu screens have a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, and the actual episodes do not.

To be fair, the episodes themselves aren't any less fun than the original viewings. If you, for some reason, didn't record them, don't much care for haphazard reruns, or don't feel like downloading them on iTunes... and/or are terribly impatient like me...these are great little episodes that I've grown to like more with each viewing. For those who want to see my original reviews (some of which may be revised when I do a full recap of the full season release...) here they are:

Ambush *** 1/2

Rising Malevolence ***

Shadow of Malevolence ***

Destroy Malevolence **** 1/2

So... that's not bad at all. And, obviously, on DVD they all look great. The colors are, at least for me, far better looking than they were when I was watching the episodes on cable. It portends a really fantastic looking release for these episodes on Blu-Ray. Shadow of Malevolence looks especially terrific.

If there's anything that belies the laziness of the release, it's that Ambush is included here. Essentially, the Malevolence Trilogy hangs together well on its own, and if they edited them together as one 70 minute feature, it would easily compare favorably to the original "theatrical" release. All three Malevolence episodes, back to back, are a treat. Ambush is a stand-alone episode, and an excellent one. It's simply not next to these other episodes for any reason other than it was televised alongside them in this order.

So... it's $15. You can spend that buying dinner for two at McDonalds. So if you don't have these in any other format, or you're just a weak-willed fanboy like me, the damage won't be too severe. Still, there's nothing here you won't get in a far better format if you can wait. I mean, heck, they didn't even give you a menu screen with animation for this one. And they best stuff in the series is later on. There's no Lair of Grevious or Trespass here.

So... the episodes average *** 1/2 stars or so. The animation (as far as the series has progressed) varies from exceptional to feeling "early." No stars for extras (because there are none) and about one star for effort, because the actual DVD case looks okay and will look nice on your shelf. Even if it fills you with shame.

Should you buy it? Probably not.

But I did.

So you didn't have to!

UPDATE !

Well...according to "The Numbers" this double dipper DVD with no extras and four episodes sold 68,722 units in its first week of release. That's not going to win any awards, but I'd bet this DVD release pulls in around $3 million is sales in about a month. That's, let's face it, amazing considering that all of these episodes were shown on free TV, are available to download on iTunes for grand total of $8, and that people can replicate this release entirely by using their DVR.

Season 1, Episode 22 - Hostage Crisis

2009-03-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

As a season finale, Hostage Crisis owes something to the original Clone Wars microseries. Instead of tying up loose ends, they're teasing what's next. Grievous made his debut at the end of the first season the original Clone Wars cartoons.

The first season of the new The Clone Wars also comes to a close with a debut. Less a stand alone story than an introduction, Hostage Crisis features Cad Bane, a Bounty Hunter inspired by Spaghetti Westerns. Impressively, he storms the Senate Building with some other well-paid scum (notably fan favorite Aurra Sing) kills a whole lot of Senate Guards, and quickly has the place in lockdown. His demand: release Ziro the Hutt.

Oh God No. Please don't release Ziro the Hutt!

I mean it. Any episode with Ziro the Hutt in it instantly loses a half star from me, at least. Because Ziro the Hutt is just plain ... oh boy. Not good.

What could possibly make up for him? Cad Bane pretty much being as cool as promised. He fits well into the gunslinger feeling one which much of Star Wars lore is built, and he was given the benefit of getting the best of our well-known characters in his first appearance. It's always good to have a character around who plays to win, and is a wild card (see Omar in The Wire). Cad Bane has great potential for the upcoming season.

The episode itself was good, but not one of the best. It was hard not to notice that the Senate Building on the Capital of the entire Republic is guarded incredibly poorly. (Meaning: not credibly.) The way in which Anakin lost his lightsaber was also overly contrived. His scene with Padme was yet another not terribly good love scene between them (you'd think they'd just leave it alone at this point) and it gave new meaning to the phrase "Giving Padme my Lightsaber."

I'm sorry. I had to.

Anyway...

Anakin's own attempts to fight and win without a weapon were certainly entertaining. The direction was solid in these action sequences. The dimly lit hallways, the Senate chambers, all felt a bit eerie with the place locked down. I also enjoyed Anakin's hand to hand combat with the Assassin Droid - energetic, fun to watch, all around cool.

The Anakin and Padme dynamic, too, even if some of the dialouge is clunky, is a key one to the Star Wars story. It is, after all, the reason Anakin becomes Darth Vader. So kudos to the writers for bringing that front and center even as clone troopers and bounty hunters populate their frames. Star Wars isn't about cool killers, in the end. It's a heroes journey. Everything else is decoration.

Rating (out of five): *** 1/2

And so, the first season comes to a close. Thanks to everyone who has followed this blog so far. If I find time, I'll do first season recap (some of those star ratings could change in retrospect!) and a little bit of posting here and there. I'll be sure to be back with reviews when Season 2 appears, and a write up of the DVD release when it arrives.

May the Force be with You!

Season 1, Episode 21 - Liberty on Ryloth

2009-03-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

The final third of the Ryloth Trilogy, Liberty on Ryloth, features Mace Windu front and center for the first time in the first season. He leads a ground assault against the capital city of Lessu, on Ryloth. When he appears overmatched, he turns to the local rebels, led by Cham Syndulla, to lend him support.

This is the third episode directed by Rob Coleman in the series, and his experience and talent are as apparent here as they were in Duel of the Droids and Jedi Crash. He's got a sense of what's cinematic (he was, after all, the Animation Director for the prequel trilogy) and he's careful not only to fill up the frame with action, but make sure the "camera" swoops and dives. Liberty on Ryloth never looks less than amazing, and the action scenes are pumped up and creative. Windu's escape from the disappearing bridge is definitely one for the series' highlight reel.

Coleman also has a strong feel for how to animate emotion. Cham Syndulla is a soulful new character, an his scenes with Mace Windu had an honesty to them that is hard to pull off within the Thunderbirds design. As with the last episode, Innocents of Ryloth, Libery on Ryloth doesn't shy away from showing us the costs of war, and the citizens and their particular issues. The episode was mostly action (the politics are shallowly played here) but it doesn't forget there is more to war than laser pistols.

That, unfortunately, doesn't help Mace Windu become more interesting. On screen, Mace Windu has always been sort of character-less. He's stalwart, wise, careful, and has a glare. But those are qualities. Who is he? What does he care about? Where is he from? What drives him? Watching Mace Windu is always a thrill - much like Yoda, the showrunners love to leave most impressive displays of Force Power to him - but I've never much cared if the character is happy or sad. That trend continued here.

On the other side (isn't this always the way) the villains have a lot more fun. In a fun subplot, it's clear the Wat Tambor and is Tactical Droid are not seeing eye to eye. I'd love to see some more episodes from the Separatist side for this reason - there's a sense of fun and play with those characters that the writers rarely seem to have with the heroes.

Liberty on Ryloth, as a stand alone episode, is well-executed and well done. As the third part of a trilogy, it shows some flaws. Although there is a tacked on Episode I style parade at the end of the episode, the three individual episodes don't connect particularly well, and don't seem to all add up to this one. Sure, there's a logic to their order (Get on the Planet, Secure the Planet, Take the Planet) but it would have been almost better to simply see three episodes of Mace Windu, or Obi-Wan, or even Ahsoka. The diffuse nature of the episodes, and their differences in quality, didn't help make this episode a stirring triumph. Just another episode with really cool battles.

Rating (out of five): *** 3/4

Season 1, Episode 20 - Innocents of Ryloth

2009-03-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

War stories shouldn't just be about soldiers. If there are costs of war, we need to see and feel them in order to care about the outcome. The Clone Wars series could very easily be a series of well produced video games that you don't get to play. Episodes like Innocents of Ryloth, therefore, become a key to the series' potency as effective storytelling.

In The Phantom Menace, we were often reminded that the people of Naboo were "suffering...dying." Words like "we must do something quickly" were spoken. But the camera never once lingered on a camp of Naboo citizens in dire straits. It was never even clear how they were suffering. Were they not being given food? Were they being shot? It made investment in their salvation (being entirely fictional characters, after all) that much harder.

With Innocents of Ryloth, we not only see Twi'leks, but a Twi'lek child named Numa. We see the Separtists using civilians as living shields. We get a sense of just what it is our heroes are saving the Twi'leks from. Much like the episode Defenders of Peace, this episode puts a face to those caught up in the war, and gives us a sense of what they might lose to it.

Of course, all the best intentions in the world aren't much without execution. Storm over Ryloth was intended to deepen Ahsoka's character, but it didn't acheive its task. Innocents of Ryloth, though, performs its duties with efficiency and heart. We see not only thrilling battles and daring escapes, but linger on the relationship between two clone soldiers, Waxer and Boil, as they interact with the frightened and plucky Numa. We're also given a fun villain in Commander TX-20, a "tactical" droid. As a Separatists droid, it seems that a tactical droid can't help but be a bit on the amusing side...but TX-20 balanced that out with a whiff of threat.

All in all, therefore, this might not have been the most stunningly designed or most fresh episode of the bunch, but it tells an excellent story and does so with vibrant characterizes and a solid script.

Innocents of Ryloth also marks the first "solo" adventure for Obi-Wan Kenobi. I'd be happy to see more of these. Obi-Wan is one of the richest characters in the Star Wars mythology, and here, he shows why. Clever, cunning, funny and caring, he lacks the shruggy teen angst of Anakin and is a fine example of what Luke aspires to be in the original trilogy.

Rating (out of five): ****

Season 1, Episode 19 - Storm over Ryloth

2009-02-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

Storm over Ryloth, the first of a "trilogy" of episodes that even have their own trailer, isn't exactly the "grand and operatic" epic promised by the Lucas Animation crew. Instead, it's a fairly pedestrian affair for Star Wars, and a rather large missed opportunity.

Anakin has been tasked with leading a strike force against the Trade Federation blockade of Ryloth, whose citizens are starving due to the brutal and oppressive regime of Wat Tambor. As we open the episode, Ahsoka is leading a squadron of clones against the Trade Federation cruisers. When the intriguing new character Captain Mar Tuk of the Separatists springs a trap, Ahsoka fails to follow orders and loses a bulk of her men. Her confidence shaken, and with few resources, Anakin still must find a way through the blockade, to set the stage for Obi-Wan's ground assault.

Where to begin? This episode has two basic components that need to work in order to be effective. Sadly, neither of them do.

The first is that the action of this story is that of a duel between strategic captains: Mar Tuk and Anakin. Battles like these are like chess between leaders, or they should be. Unfortunately, Mar Tuk's trap (that entirely fools Anakin and winds up getting Ahsoka's squadron decimated) is to call in reinforcements at the last minute. That's not exactly what I'd call advanced tactical strategy. Anakin's rebuttal? Fly a big ship into the other guy's ship.

All of this is underwhelming. There's clearly the desire here to reference Grand Admiral Thrawn from the original Timothy Zahn trilogy (Ahsoka's one "idea" is an homage to Thrawn); but the space combat scenes themselves are shot in a relatively dull way. There are a few moments that look "cool" but in Star Wars, that's par for the course. After episodes like Shadow of Malevolence or Jedi Crash, where we can see just how much fun the series can have with battles such as these, this episode felt uninspired.

The second part, though, is Ahsoka's crisis. This is the first time in the series we are shown Ahsoka not only making a huge mistake, but that mistake costing her men's lives, and risking many more. This could have been a significant deepening of the series and of Ahsoka's character, given the proper handling of the material. Instead, Ahsoka, both in animation and in the voice acting of Ashley Eckstein, seems mostly nonplussed. It appears as if having men die because of your mistake is mostly a... bummer, and its the sort of thing you can get over with a little faith in yourself.

Anakin's response, which is to be momentarily annoyed with her and then quickly encouraging, seems to happen too quickly and seems entirely out of synch with what she's done wrong. To later her put her in charge of the entire mission seems more like an act of incompetence than of mentorship. It seems almost sociopathic that Anakin should risk the success of the mission, and the lives of the citizens of Ryloth, in order to provide Ahsoka with self-confidence.

What works? I did like the idea of Mar Tuk, and was glad to see him live to fight in a better episode. I also enjoyed seeing Admiral Yularen take a more active role than water carryer for the Jedi. His character is a blank slate, and I'd love to see them give him more of an active role in the series. He is, after all, an Admiral in the Clone Wars.

All in all, though, the entirely mismanaged treatment of the emotional core of the episode, combined with the mildly staged space action, makes Storm over Ryloth seem more like Tryouts for the Swim Team Over Ryloth. I'm hopeful that in retrospect, this will seem like a bump in the road towards an exciting next two chapters of this 'trilogy.'

Rating (out of five): * 1/2

Season 1, Episode 18 - Mystery of a Thousand Moons

2009-02-13T20:56:00.000-08:00

Following Blue Shadow Virus immediately is Mystery of a Thousand Moons. This installment embraces a larger view of the Force: it's one of those wonderful moments in Star Wars, like with the Cantina or Jabba's Palace, when we're presented with a wealth of new designs and characters. It's also more than just the successor to Blue Shadow Virus chronologically; in both episodes' DNA is The Phantom Menace.

When Padme, Ahsoka, Jar Jar and the Clones find that the virus has been set free in the underground laboratory, they battle to keep the Droids from breaking through the outer shell and releasing the airborne virus into Naboo's atmosphere. In the midst of this, they find themselves exposed to the virus. The only way to save them is to find a cure, and quickly. Obi-Wan and Anakin rush to the planet of Iego, to find the rare root from which an antidote can be fashioned.

Iego (as anyone bothering to read this blog will remember) is name dropped by Anakin Skywalker in Episode I, when, as a 10 year old boy, he tries to put the moves on Padme. "Are you an Angel?" he asks. "I've heard the deep space pirates talk about them. They're the most beautiful creatures in the universe. They live on the moons of Iego, I think."

Ahem.

The quality of the line not withstanding, here, our patience is once again rewarded. Not only do we find ourselves in Iego, but Iego is richly realized. Abandoned and trapped by what the denizens call Drol (because their terrifying God tells remarkably good jokes at dinner parties), the characters we meet on Iego are eccentric to say the least. And yes, we get a look at an "Angel" (voiced by Padme's voice performer Catherine Taber in a nice touch). We also meet a few new creatures, and an Anakin-esque boy named Jaybo Hood.

Jaybo, for his part, wasn't a part of the episode I relished. Maybe it was that David Kaufman's voice work lends Jaybo a decided Saturday morning cartoon tone. Or perhaps it's because there seems to be no limit to the remarkably smart children in the Star Wars prequel universe.

There also seemed to be something "off" about the timing. As Padme and Ahsoka are rapidly dying in a small contained area, Obi-Wan and Anakin go to Theed, interrogate a prisoner, fly to a completely foreign planet, find a cure to a disease, escape the inescapable, etc. It felt a little like time was being truncated for the heroes, but stretched out for those in peril. Also, if opening the laboratory at all would cause the virus to kill most of the life on Naboo...how did they get Padme, Rex and Ahsoka out of there?

The episode has its definitive strengths; most prominent among them is how well Anakin and Obi-Wan's differences are played. While we know that Anakin's headstrong nature will lead him astray in the long run; it's also hard not to sympathize. His wife is, in fact, dying. It's also wonderfully obvious that Obi-Wan is no fool. When Anakin refers to the Senator as Padme, it's Obi-Wan who gives him a non-verbal reminder to keep up appearances.

Also, as with many of the later episodes, the animation has matured. I love the brilliant blue of the virus's haze; which stands out against the yellow uniforms and red safe room. The look of the re-purposed battle droids, and the Angels, are all memorable as well.

All in all, I definitely enjoyed this episode, but it didn't have the compact plotting of its predecessor, and a few logistical issues nagged at me as I watched.

Rating (out of five) *** 1 /2

Season 1, Episode 17 - Blue Shadow Virus

2009-02-13T20:40:00.000-08:00

I confess: I have a soft spot for Naboo.

In 1999, I was sitting in a theater, watching someone called Qui-Gon Jinn run away from a weirdly bulbous tank, on a planet, a completely new planet, a planet I'd never heard of... I think there was something so completely satisfying about the experience that I've never really shaken it off. It's that feeling that made me love the prequels; that feeling of getting something you wanted after being about as patient as a, well... a Jedi Master. The planet of Naboo said, "Star Wars is back and it's new." I was anticipatory and nostalgic all at once.

Now, Naboo conjures its own form of nostalgia. That's how terribly old this is all making me feel.

I say all this because Blue Shadow Virus, an action packed episode, and the first of a two-parter, has The Phantom Menace written all over it. As much as the previous episode, Trespass, embraced the imagery of Ralph McQuarrie; Blue Shadow Virus gives the nod to Doug Chiang. Chiang's designs are less angular than his predecessors, more sleek. He embraces the Buck Rogers elements of the saga. Where the original trilogy has a hardscrabble, 'lived in' feel, the prequels show an ornate and peaceful galaxy, built not only for use, but also beauty. Blue Shadow Virus captures, aesthetically, that spirit.

What it also gives us, for the first time in Star Wars, is "The Mad Scientist." Amazing that we haven't come across this particular character type before in the Star Wars saga. Here, we get Dr. Nuvo Vindi (gleefully voiced by Michael York) who is creating a biological weapon for the Separatists. The weapon is based on the Blue Shadow virus, which we're told was wiped out entirely because no life form was immune to it. Not only is Vindi bring the virus back, but has created a strain that is airborne and sticks into into a bunch of bombs. (I expect novels and comic books about the Blue Shadow virus's history any day now.)

The episode is teeming with life. We see Captain Typho for the first time in the series; we see the return of the "rabbit droid;" we meet two new characters; and the entire prequel trilogy cast is present. Even Mace Windu and Yoda stop by for a cup of hologram coffee.

What is a marvel, given all this, is how well everything fits together without ever feeling rushed. The episode feels more like the Escape from Jabba's Palace in Return of the Jedi than anything else: a series of discreet set pieces and objectives all edited together hyper kinetically. Even though this episode aired originally back-to-back with episode 18, it feels entirely complete on its own, in just about 22 minutes of actual airtime. Quite a feat.

If there's anything that pulls the episode back from perfection, it's the silliness that pervades the plot. Vindu, though hilarious and cunning, is also played so broadly that it was hard to take him seriously as a threat. I was also unclear (as I often am) about what the Separatists had to gain by releasing a deadly virus. Aren't they Capitalists? Can't sell anything to the dead, can you?

Balancing that effect out is the note-perfect dynamic between Obi-Wan and Anakin. We shouldn't forget the primary struggle in Anakin and Padme's troubled lives is their secret love. When Padme is in danger, Anakin can barely contain his edge, his desire to protect her above all else. Obi-Wan's slightly raised eye brow, and counselings of caution, are both foreboding and endearing. It's always good to see the writers in this series highlight the complex character dynamics from the prequels. Those complications add a necessary depth to what could be just very well-made Saturday morning cartoons.

Ratings (out of five) ****

Ryloth "Trilogy" Trailer

2009-02-09T21:00:00.001-08:00

Is now up at the Official Site.

I have to admit, I'm still a sucker for trailers with the Star Wars music. Especially during a time when we're all nostalgic for the hype surrounding The Phantom Menace, this type of thing really makes me smile.

They should make teaser trailers like this for all the two or three-parters. I would be on those like white on rice.

Season 1, Episode 16 - The Hidden Enemy

2009-02-06T23:18:00.000-08:00

The Hidden Enemy is a brief prequel (or at least precursor) to the Clone Wars movie. It, therefore, takes place prior to the introduction of Ahsoka Tano, but after Attack of the Clones. The entire Clone Wars series leads into Revenge of the Sith, which is the last of the trilogy of prequels. To which I say: Star Wars continuity officially needs a spreadsheet. Maybe two. I haven't even mentioned those, you know, original three movies.

I bring this up because The Hidden Enemy has lots of little nods to the Clone Wars movie. It takes place of Christophsis, it mentions "heavy cannons" (which were the focal point of the first battle in the movie), and Asajj Ventress makes a point of getting off-world just in time to be on her mark for the start of the film. Why, exactly, it was deemed necessary to give people the events immediately prior to the Clone Wars movie isn't immediately clear to me. At least now we know.

All these little references make The Hidden Enemy a sort of oddball of an episode. At its core, beyond the obligatory set pieces, is a story that I suspect will have a big impact on fan's understanding of the clones. The idea of a clone traitor, despite the fact that the clones were bred for "obedience" and loyalty (according to the Kaminoans) means that the clones aren't brainwashed, but instead, participating in a culture of service. The line is a thin one between service and servititude where clones are concerned: they're bred (heck, grown) for combat, by the truckloads, but they're also individuals in their way. To see a clone trooper that openly disdains the Jedi opens the door for the story to come.

And so, the main story of Commander Cody and Captain Rex as Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson works very well. Cody and Rex have been well-established as characters now, and watching them feels familiar and fun. The interrogation and subsequent hunting of the traitor are certainly fun and full of fun character notes and smart moments.

The rest of the episode, though, isn't as well thought out. Obi-Wan and Anakin have a secret plan to, apparently, drive directly up to the front door of Separatist central. If that's your plan...why make it secret to begin with? Then, when they fight Asajj Ventress, she announces to them that she has an informant. What good is an informant inside your enemies camp if you announce his existence to them?

Why, I'm forced to ask, are they really fighting her at all? Not that I don't enjoy a good lightsaber duel. I do. It's one of my favorite things. (It's on the list with Brooklyn Lager, Kettle Chips and comfortable shoes.) I just like there to be a reason for the fight. My standards are low on this point. If it was "If you want to leave here, you'll have to get through me" or "I am going to make a very real attempt to kill you" I'd be satisfied. In The Hidden Enemy, it's pretty clear we're watching a lightsaber duel so we know why Obi-Wan and Anakin aren't around while the clones are sorting stuff out.

(Let me go on record, though, of loving the Asajj vs Obi-Wan flirt/fight dynamic. I can't wait until we get an episode in Season 2 that sounds like Who's Afraid of Virigina Woolf? with lightsabers. I pray for it at night.)

With these three disparate elements (the mystery, the movie lead-in, and the lightsaber duel), The Hidden Enemy tries to do too much and feels, as a result, thinner than it should with such rich material. The core story, though, answers a burding question about the clones' psychology, and rolls out in an entertaining way. That makes it an episode that's required viewing for clone wars fans, flaws and all.

Rating (out of five) ***

Season 1, Episode 15 - Trespass

2009-02-01T20:54:00.000-08:00

Trespass (like previous stand alone episodes like Rookies and Lair of Grievous) is a compact story with great impact. By divorcing itself from the main conflict of the Clone Wars, and exploring a local border dispute it finds a little breathing room for an independent, and no less engaging, story.

Anakin and Obi-Wan are sent to the remote Hoth-like world of Orto Plutonia, to investigate the radio silence from a clone outpost. They are accompanied by dignitaries from Pantora, a nearby moon. The Pantoran chairman, Chi Cho, claims that Orto Plutonia is the protectorate of the moon, and that it is essentially uninhabited. When its discovered that Pantora is the homeworld of a tribe of Talz, the Chairman's own bravado, and distaste for negotiation, become roadblocks to peace. His accompaniment includes a young Pantoran Senator, Riyo Chuchi, who he, at first, is able to bully and prod without much resistance.

What happens in the episodes full 22 or so minutes isn't hard to imagine. The Jedi work hard to broker peace, the local "savages" are far from savage, etc. etc. If the episode has any major flaws, its that its plot plays out much as one might expect.

Some plots, though, are often returned to because they work. That's how Trespass feels: more like classic plotting than lazy cliche. Within its classic structure, every thing is in its right place.

The delight is in the details. Orto Plutonia is beautifully realized, and its clear that the artists had a fine time mixing nostalgia for the Empire Strikes Back with prequel era design. The "Freeco" Bikes are a kick-ass blend of speeder bike and snowspeeder. The Clone Trooper Snowsuits are a great blend of old and new. The Pantorans are a strikingly rendered new race, and the Talz (seen in A New Hope and in the Clone Wars microseries) are elevated from cameo status in style.

Those feats of animation don't do much without excellent character work, and Trespass doesn't fail in that respect. I was especially happy to see Obi-Wan, who in the prequels is far to often relegated to officious finger-wagging, shining through as the budding mentor we see in the original trilogy. I also appreciated the truthfully played, (if telegraphed) transformation of Riyo Chuchi from inexperienced teen to peacemaker.

Trespass also manages to give the battles a hint of loss. (Not easy in a series that built its reputation on fun, creative battles.) Each Talz warrior that falls, each Clone killed by a spear, each Pantoran who dies; they all seem to go needlessly. When Captain Rex shows his prowess, it seems a shame to see him gun down so many warriors who aren't, in any real way, his enemies.

By offering up some of the series most memorable visuals, and one of its most complete, emotional, and well-told stories, Trespass is a boon to the series as a whole, and the Clone Wars mythos.

Rating (out of five) **** 1/2

Season 1, Episode 14 - Defenders of Peace

2009-01-23T18:55:00.000-08:00

I was, when I read the premise of Defenders of Peace, concerned that the showrunners would wind up treating the pacificism of the Lurmen as misguided or somehow cowardly. My lack of faith was unwarranted: more than any other episode thus far, Defenders of Peace allows for ambiguity.

It helps that the Separatists aren't just asking for the Lurmen's lunch money. The Separatists are led by Lok Durd (voiced with smarmy relish by Star Trek veteran George Takei); and he's testing a weapon that wipes out all organic life, leaving droids intact. The Lurmen are done for, and the Jedi feel obligated to protect them. The Lurmen (or at least their leader) seem willing to die before the compromising their values.

This premise not only sets up a dramatically interesting conflict, but just good old fashioned fun action sequences. There's a grand scope to Lok Durd's weapon that makes it worthy of all this bluster. The Jedi and Clones work together to remain hidden, sneak into the Separatists' outpost, and, finally, do battle against tremendous odds.

The action is all tremendously put together; especially the dimly lit sequence when the Jedi steal a Neimoidian shuttle. The final stand, with the energy shield, is reminiscent of the battle between the Gungans and the Battle Droids on Naboo in The Phantom Menance, with a bit of a Seven Samurai twist. The action is well-supported by zippy dialogue and increasingly nuanced animation.

Tee Watt Kaa, the Lurmen elder, closes the episode worrying about the unrealized cost of the events in Defenders of Peace. It would be interesting to see if the show revisits this planet in later episodes and explores the impact that these episodes had on their leadership and traditions.

The episode's "fortune cookie" is "When surrounded by war, one must eventually chose a side." Instead of wagging its finger at pacifism, Defenders of Peace sees that war itself forces those with good intentions into choices they'd rather not make. Why else would else would the war be an end unto itself for the Sith?

Rating (out of five): **** 1/2

By the way

2009-01-21T08:46:00.000-08:00

John Williams provides music for the Inauguration.

TD Jakes says "May the force be with you" to Barack Obama on the day of the inauguration.

George Lucas attended the inauguration.

We were well represented on the big day it appears, oh Star Wars fans.

It occurs to me, re-watching Episode III, that the prequels were very much commentary on the Bush era.

Season 1, Episode 13 - Jedi Crash

2009-01-17T08:25:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of Jedi Crash, the viewer is thrust into swirling action. Super Battle Droids dive through the atmosphere; gunships roar; war ships lurch to and fro. Jedi Master Aayla Secura desperately needs reinforcements. They come, almost too late, from Anakin Skywalker and his battalion of clone troopers.

It's a rousing start, and it leads quickly into daring escapes, and finally, the titular crash itself, on a grassy planet. (According to the episode guide it's called Maridun.) Anakin has been severely injured in the escape, and its up to Aayla Secura, Ahsoka, and the remaining clones to figure out where they are, and how to get home.

As with Duel of the Droids (also directed by Rob Coleman, Animation Director for the prequels) the color palette and the perspectives are all artfully combined. Where The Gungan General felt rushed; Jedi Crash feels carefully put together.

It may be that a little extra care was put into the episode: it was written by Katie Lucas, daughter of He Need Not Be Named. To her credit, the action here isn't the only thing to recommend the episode. As the episode goes into its second and third acts, the script takes over from the action, and has a few of the series strongest moments. (It also features at least one line that's a remarkable groaner, but heck, that's a pretty good batting average.)

The major theme here is, once again, attachment. Ahsoka doesn't want to leave Anakin's side, but Aayla rightly gets her to think about more than her own immediate needs and attachments. They leave Rex behind with Anakin and head out to find help.

(Here's the groaner: they find a piece of wood that shows, plainly, GIANT TREES and people living near them. Ahsoka looks at it and, like Encylopedia Brown, says "I think the people around here live near GIANT TREES." "Very perceptive," says Aayla. Ouch. Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.)

What they do find, though, are the Lurmans. They look a whole lot, frankly, like Nelvaanian women and children from the original Clone Wars microseries. But they're more adorable, and they're pacificsts. And they live in giant seed pods. And they can roll like Droidekas.

The Lurman leader, Tee Wat Kaa, espouses his values to the Jedi, before agreeing to provide Anakin with medical supplies. There's a bit more non-descript action before the episode closes on a cliffhanger as well, and pacifism seems to rule the day. I don't have to tell you (I hope) that Anakin lives.

Jedi Crash is a largely exceptional episode. The action (as I stated) is fantastic. More than that, there are moments where the Jedi's role in the war is questioned, and there needs to be more of this in the series.

Think about telling a story about the war in Iraq without ever mentioning how the war was started. It doesn't make any sense. The Clone Wars are the reason for the fall of the Republic. They were started under false pretenses, built around trade routes and an arms race. In short: the war is a trick. The Jedi claim to fight for freedom, but have the Separatists claimed to fight for fascism? There is a very real difference between the World War II inspired battles of the original trilogy and the morally ambiguous Clone Wars. The Clone Wars are Vietnam or Iraq; the Galactic Civil War is a war against a clear evil.

So, I was incredibly happy to hear even a hint of that in the voice of the Lurmens. The series will only be more rich if the sourness of the war and its irony is allowed to breathe a bit in the emotional life of the characters.

It was also nice to hear Ahsoka learn something. I mean, seriously. Aalya Secura turns out to be yet another strong female Jedi character, this time with a french accent, and a tougher edge. (There must be some theory of the Lucasverse that we can better remember characters with simple traits like accents.)

For all that good stuff, then... why is there something I feel was missing from this episode? Maybe it's that I find it almost impossible to invest emotionally in Ahsoka Tano. At this point, I've watched a film where she was all but the star, and maybe 5 of the 12 episodes aired before this one featured her prominently. That's plenty of time to get to know the character, and still, she comes off as entirely unlikeable to me. I also don't find myself concerned with her "fate" and how it affects Anakin's fall to the dark side.

Here's why: we don't need it. Anakin's mother dies, he kills out of anger, he fears for the death of his secret wife. His mentor is, unbeknownst to him, the biggest bad guy of all bad guys. That's the mythology that matters. Ahsoka's fate isn't really a blip of that kind of drama's radar.

So, I fully admit that bias. If Ahsoka's in an episode, it has to work three times as hard to impress me. She's a product of someone's idea of how to appeal to a certain demographic, and I don't care of "she" learns about the Jedi Code.

Also, unfortunately, is the problem with the Duel of the Droids two-parters: Anakin lives. Putting Anakin or R2-D2 in danger are dramatically inert choices. If you know the outcome you can still mine dramatic tension (the prequels figured out how to do this because the questions were "how" and "when," not "if"); but if the question is who survives...the question is asked and answered.

Add Ahsoka's anti-charisma and Anakin's dilemma being sort of dramatically uninvolving, and I'm left with an episode I found impressive and satisfying intellectually; but that never really hooked me.

Rating (out of five): ***

Welcome New Readers

2009-01-12T13:25:00.000-08:00

If you're visiting this blog for the first time from either Club Jade or TFN, welcome! This space will be updated weekly with reviews of each episode of the Clone Wars TV series currently airing on the Cartoon Network, usually either the night of the episode, or the Saturday following.

Don't forget to add us to your Bloglines or Google Reader lists, and comment freely!

-CloneWarsFan

Season 1, Episode 12 - The Gungan General

2009-01-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

The Gungan General, while a lot of fun, doesn't quite maintain the momentum established by it's lead-in Dooku Captured. The best moments are hidden behind some slapdash story choices and bland writing. The episode's take on Jar Jar Binks, though, is more in-depth than was the previous Jar Jar episode Bombad Jedi.

The episode begins with a head scratcher. Although we plainly saw Obi-Wan and Anakin outsmart the pirates and pointedly not sip from drugged drinks at the end of the previous episode, this episode begins with them captured themselves, having been drugged. Huh? (Apparently, the explanation can be found in the online comic, but it's not much more dramatically satisfying that way.)

Then, the Jedi are put into a cell and tied to Count Dooku. Which, of course, is the smartest thing for wily pirates to do. Take three powerful Jedi and tie them together. They'll never escape that way.

For the most part, I'm fine with this sort of expedient plotting if the results are worthwhile. The best reason to tie heroes and villains together is to get to some entertaining, hopefully comic, dynamic. Odd couples in peril are a grand tradition (see: Midnight Run.) Here, though, it's a better idea than its execution. Dooku and the Jedi seem less like mortal enemies and more like classmates from different social circles thrust together to study for a final exam. Their banter consists of harmless "I agree" or "I don't want to hear your voice." It's an opportunity that isn't truly taken advantage of.

Also, the reason that the Jedi keep trying to escape isn't artfully established. At one point, Obi-Wan even says: "We have to get out of here or we'll look like fools." Not such a compelling reason for an escape, if all the Jedi have to do is wait for the Republic to show up in the meantime. High stakes are key in any compact narrative, and this one's stakes appear to be pride, at least for the Jedi.

Jar Jar, though, has better material to work with. He accompanies Senator Kharrus and their clone escorts to deliver the ransom for the release of Count Dooku to the pirates. Unfortunately, Turk Falso, Captain Ohnaka's second in command, decides to go after the ransom himself. He has the envoy shot down.

Senator Kharrus is killed, which leaves Jar Jar as the ranking officer. Jar Jar, in this episode, proves less of a hopeless, child-like buffoon than he did in Bombad Jedi. He shows his own sort of instinct and wisdom; and his words about Senator Kharrus's death are the closest thing the episode comes to real sentiment.

As with Dooku Captured, the action in this episode flies forward, with our heroes getting into and out of trouble again and again. This time, though, plot feels more slapdash. Why, for example, didn't they spread out the Jar Jar Binks storyline over two episodes if this was intended to be a two-parter? Why wasn't Turk Falso introduced last week? It feels like a bit too much is crammed into The Gungan General, and it shows.

What was good? Well, the pace, for all is chaos, cooks and that is always good in Star Wars. As I said, I prefer this version of Jar Jar Binks to the sillier one. I also liked how, knowing how things wind up in Episode III, Anakin and Obi-Wan's response to dealing with Dooku showed contrast.

Finally, Obi-Wan's decision to consistenly avoid a quarrel with the pirates, even when he's out of danger from them, was an excellent character note. It shows that part of being "The Negotiator" is having a sense of honor, not just a way with words. Obi-Wan comes off as rather cold in the Clone Wars series, at times. Here, we see a bit more of what makes him heroic.

While the Clone Wars took a step forward with it's presentation of Jar Jar; the trio of Obi-Wan, Anakin and Dooku just didn't live up to its potential. An fairly entertaining episode, if far from perfect. The Gungan General seemed to lose decent ideas to rushed execution.

Rating (out of five): ** /12

Preview clip of "The Gungan General"

2009-01-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

Check out this clip, courtesy of Big Shiny Robot!

Season 1, Episode 11 - Dooku Captured

2009-01-02T19:19:00.000-08:00

Dooku Captured turns out to be the beginning of yet another story-arc. There's little that goes on in Dooku Captured that breaks the mold. It does, though, have some of the best traits of any good Star Wars story: it starts in the middle of the action, it flies forward, and it features tons of characters and complications. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

For an episode called Dooku Captured, Count Dooku doesn't wind up in that particular predicament until about half-way through. Much of the first part of the episode is dedicated to Anakin and Obi-Wan implementing a plan to capture him. As with the Duel of the Droids two-parter, this episode suffers a bit from its well-trod territory. We know the fate of all the main characters, including and especially Dooku, so there's not very much suspense.

There doesn't seem to be much going on here but the desire to crank out an entertaining adventure. On that level, the mission is accomplished. Anakin and Obi-Wan make, in this series, an entertaining duo, and watching them get into and out of trouble very much speaks to the serial roots of Star Wars. They go from prison cell, to chase scene, to crashing on a planet, to buried in rubble, to running away from a monster, to...need I go on? In just under 30 minutes, we watch our heroes get into an out of countless scrapes. Moreover, it's simple and entertaining team stories like these that make what eventually happens to Anakin and Obi-Wan all the more tragic.

There is, though, more than just another story about Anakin and Obi-Wan to recommend this episode. The Weequay pirates, led by new character Pirate Chief Hondo Ohnaka, are an entertaining bunch. It's good to know that the Lucasverse is still big enough to throw a much needed wild-card into the mix now and then.

The pirates will likely send some fans into eye-rolling apoplexy. How could, one might ask, a character as powerful as Dooku wind up captured by a band of guys with guns.

I was happy to see that choice made. It's fun to play around with unbeatable force powers in a video game, but in terms of storytelling, the Jedi and Sith have always seemed more like samurai than superheroes. As much as I loved playing The Force Unleashed and seeing the awesome Mace Windu episodes of the original Clone Wars series, those mediums were simply wish fulfillment. They didn't have to carry the weight of drama. If even Sith can be outnumbered, if blasters pose an actual threat to Sith and Jedi alike, then we're in a far more dangerous universe, and it's all the better for it.

The dialogue in this episode, also, stood out to me as being very much on-tone for Star Wars. In fact, this was an episode where the characters and their dialogue took the lead over the action, and that was a refreshing success.

It's hard to say just how this story-line will close out (the preview for the next episode shows a fair amount of Jar Jar) but the set-up hits all the right notes. Maybe not the sort of episode that thrusts the series into hyperspace, Dooku Captured is nothing more than an enjoyable romp.

Rating (out of five): ***1/2

Filoni and Gilroy are interviewed at TheForce.net

2008-12-30T09:28:00.000-08:00

Over at TFN, Dave Filoni and Henry Gilroy answer questions from the fans. Really fantastic interview. Here's a notable highlight, for those interested in how "canonical" the series is.

TFN: How does your writing process work, and what role does George Lucas play in it?

Henry: On the first 13 episodes I wrote premises with Dave that went to George for approval, he made his notes, then we went through outline and script phase and George would see the scripts when Dave and I and Catherine were happy with them, he’d make notes and the scripts would go final.

On most shows, that would be the end of the writing process, but on Clone Wars, that’s about ‘the middle’ of the writing process, because once the episodes get into animatic \ story reel in editorial, Dave and George go through them, rewriting, adding and subtracting, etc...

Halfway through the first season, George was so excited with what we were doing, he came in one day with an outline and handed it to me, “Turn that into a script.” It was a story called ‘Count Dooku Captured.” From then on, George got into the writing \ scripting process in a big way. On season two, ALL of the story ideas came from George, except a couple that were originally written in season one by Dave and I (& Dini). I think season three is the same way.

Dave: Writing process? Oh right, well it’s pretty much what Henry described above.

Thanks to Club Jade for the heads up.

Upcoming Clone Wars Episode Titles

2008-12-29T13:49:00.000-08:00

Wookieepdia has a list of the upcoming Clone Wars episode titles. Here they are.

Episode	Title	Original Airdate	Prod. #
00	"The Clone Wars"	August 15, 2008
01	"Ambush"	October 3, 2008	108
02	"Rising Malevolence"	October 3, 2008	107
03	"Shadow of Malevolence"	October 10, 2008	109
04	"Destroy Malevolence"	October 17, 2008	111
05	"Rookies"	October 24, 2008	114
06	"Downfall of a Droid"	November 7, 2008	102
07	"Duel of the Droids"	November 14, 2008	106
08	"Bombad Jedi"	November 21, 2008	105
09	"Cloak of Darkness"	December 5, 2008	110
10	"Lair of Grievous"	December 12, 2008	112
11	"Dooku Captured"	January 2, 2009
12	"The Gungan General"	January 9, 2009
13	"Jedi Crash"	January 16, 2009
14	"Defenders of Peace"	January 23, 2009
15	"Trespass"	January 30, 2009
16	"Hidden Enemy"	February 6, 2009
17	"Blue Shadow Virus"	February 13, 2009
18	"Mystery of a Thousand Moons "	February 20, 2009
19	"Hostage Crisis"	February 27 2009
20	"Storm Over Ryloth "	March 3, 2009
21	"The Innocents of Ryloth"	March 10, 2009
22	"Liberty on Ryloth"	March 17, 2009
23	"Battle for the Midnight Shadow"	March 24, 2009
24	"Cargo of Doom"	April 4, 2009
25	"Ambush in the Outer Rim"	April 11, 2009

I'm not sure what the sources are here. Some are expressly listed in the entries, some aren't. I had thought that the full season would only run 22 episodes...so if this is accurate, I'm happy to see it.

Looks like a big Ryloth adventure in March. Could this be the war story we've been waiting for? Looking forward to that.

We can also look forward to another Gungan Episode. Bring 'em on.

I might say that, at this point, episode 25 could be the generic title of many an episode of this series. The Outer Rim seems like the Tatooine of the Clone Wars. Everything seems to happen there.

Clone Wars Recap - Episodes 1 - 10

2008-12-22T21:42:00.001-08:00

So, we've reached a natural point of reflection in the Clone Wars series. There's a Clone Wars marathon going on, the show won't be back until January, and we're ten episodes into the first season. For now, just before the holiday, I'm going to review my ratings, talk about the episodes in rank 1 - 10, and then talk about what these first episodes bode for the future.

____

1. Lair of Grievous (Episode 1o) - **** 1/2

The most cinematic and thematically solid episode. It also features a mix of fresh characters and dynamics.

2. Duel of the Droids (Episode 7) - **** 1/2

Delivered with golden hues, excellent pacing, and well-directed action. Felt very much like, well, Star Wars.

3. Destroy Malevolence (Episode 4) **** 1/2

Takes the standard prequel-era characters and mixes them into an original trilogy set-up. The result is a wonderfully satisfying homage to everything you missed about the OT, and everything you wanted in the Prequels.

4. Rookies (Episode 5) ****

Exceptional episode that hopefully will be the beginning of a trend towards more episodes just like this one. The only problem I had was that it's the first one: we don't know the clones well enough to feel it when they die. Otherwise, great stuff.

5. Cloak of Darkness (Episode 9) *** 3/4

Many people's favorite episode, and a real winner. All around awesome except for one big caveat: why is Ahsoka always right? Isn't her role to...learn? Hard to ignore that problem in an episode so full of Tano.

6. Ambush (Episode 1) *** 1/2

The perfect introduction to the series, if offering little new. Good to see Yoda being playful, and the action feeling zippy.

7. Rising Malevolence (Episode 2) ***

Introduction of Plo Koon, and a dark episode to lead into the Malevolence arc. A little static, and Plo Koon is a bit generic. The stakes, though, do feel dire.

8. Shadow of Malevolence (Episode 3) ***

Totally fun "bombing run" episode that has "Ahsoka knows best" syndrome. Still...Y-Wings! Love the Y-Wings!

9. Downfall of a Droid (Episode 6) ** 1/2

A lead-in to the far better episode Duel of the Droids. It's biggest problem: does anyone really think Artoo dies? Raise your hands. Also, Anakin comes off like a dick.

10. Bombad Jedi (Episode 8) ** 1/2

Better than its reputation, but sort of all-over-the place and weird. Like Jar Jar himself.

____

The series has had exactly two stand alone episodes - Rookies and Ambush. Everything else was loosely, or directly, a part of a story arc: The Malevolence "trilogy;" the Downfall/Duel of the Droids two-parter; and the Nute Gunry-arc (Bombad Jedi, Cloak of Darkness and Lair of Grievous). I, personally, love these forays into story-arcs, and hope it emboldens the showrunners to take it further as the series rolls on.

It also strikes me that any of the story-arcs in the first ten episodes of the series would have made better feature releases than the actual feature itself did. The Malevolence Trilogy seems made for a DVD release of its own, maybe with a little editing to hang all three episodes together. You've got a just under 70 minute mini-movie right there.

If there's any major flaw in the series, it's Ahsoka. The series is all over the map with her. I have no idea what lesson the writers are intending to teach when she condescends to more experienced Jedi and is proven right. Is this to show young women that they should be pro-active, or to encourage kids to ask a lot of questions or...what? Because it appears to undercut the entire premise of the Master-Padawan relationship in a way that's not only unrealistic, but cloying.

Also, all the victories of the Republic are hollow in the midst of the larger context. The Clone Wars are a sham after all. In order to be more than a series of fun adventures clouded in a sort of distracting irony; we need to see war stories from a psychological (as opposed to story) perspective. The idea of this as "Star Wars meets Band of Brothers" was thrown about liberally when the series was being promoted. I say "heck yes" to that. These can, and should, be war stories.

It's good to see the villains as dangerous, and these last few episodes delivered that. Asajj Ventress, General Grievous, the Commando Droids, traitorous humans... we're getting a better sense of the enemy and what makes them formidable. The more of this we see, the more we'll care about Ahsoka or Captain Rex when their backs are to the wall.

Ten episodes in, we definitely have been watching a steady increase in both quality of the episodes, and of our own expectations. Let's hope the series continues to evolve and takes more chances. Regardless, the Clone Wars series is proving to be some of the best of the non-film product that has come out of Lucasfilm to date. And we're not even half-way through the first season.

The Force is with us!

Season 1, Episode 10 - Lair of Grievous

2008-12-13T10:51:00.000-08:00

Lair of Grievous, directed by Atsushi Takeuchi, is the most mythologically dense episode of the Clone Wars series yet. Grievous is a late addition to the Star Wars story, and his development has been taking place in front of the fan base. His first appearance, in finale of the first series of Clone Wars shorts in 2003, turns out to have been a rough sketch from early concepts. His later iterations have wavered between insect-like, cowardly, bold and cunning. The EU has addressed his origins a bit, but that's about it.

In some ways, that's a very good thing. Star Wars isn't the X-Files or Lost: sometimes the less Star Wars fans know about a character, the more fun that character is (see: Fett, Boba). Lair of Grievous, therefore, strikes the perfect balance. There are hints of his background, tantalizing teases, including the powerfully realized statues in his honor... but they are all part of the moody atmospherics.

As a Star Wars fan, I don't find myself aching for exposition. Star Wars is about story, and in Lair of Grievous, we get plenty. The action of the episode continues that storyline arc that started in Bombad Jedi and carries over my directly from Cloak of Darkness. The Jedi are still chasing Nute Gunray, and a homing beacon leads Jedi Master Kit Fisto to a remote planet in service of that pursuit. There, he reunites with a new character, his "old padawan" Nahdar Vebb, and his clone troopers. Vebb is a young Calamarian, having very recently completed the trials.

Once on the planet, they find themselves in a mysterious structure, and in grave danger. A trap has been set for them - or is it for Grievous?

The unfolding episode plays out as a lesson about the nature of war, and the difficulty the Jedi have maintaining their code and discipline in the face of such dangerous foes. Vebb is hot-headed, eager, and throughout the episode, he uses the Force in ways that seem excessive (to turn a chair around, for example); Kit Fisto's notes this with concern. When, in the end, Vebb turns to face down Grievous and starts kill Battle Droids like he's Starkiller, you know he's running straight for the wrong end of a blaster.

In many ways, I found this episode to be the antidote to the Ahsoka-is-always-right dynamic that pervaded Cloak of Darkness: here, the Jedi Master is treated as such, and his lessons of restraint are proven founded.

But beyond the storytelling, what makes the Lair of Grievous one of the best of the series thus far, is the blend of inventive design and a sense of adventure. There's comedy here, but it seems well placed (Grievous's attendant seems suitably preoccupied with housekeeping, so to speak); more than anything, there's a sense of foreboding that permeates to every characters and scene. It also helps that we see the Jedi Council for the first time in the series, and the scene is, though short, appropriately disconcerting.

More than any other episode in the series so far, Lair of Grievous reveals the character of its cast through its action and themes. By the end of it, we know much more about who (and what) Grievous is; and the same can be said for the Jedi. Hard to beat that.

Rating (out of five): **** 1/2

Is the Clone Wars part of the EU?

2008-12-10T13:50:00.000-08:00

Do you think that The Clone Wars is a part of the Expanded Universe?

Could you safely call the 2003 miniseries canon until this series is complete?

My attitude is that any incomplete story can't really be Canon.

Or can you see a way in which the 2003 series and this new one can exist side by side?

Lair of Grievous Preview from July

2008-12-08T13:08:00.000-08:00

Atsushi Takeuchi, director of the upcoming episode Lair of Grievous, did an in-depth preview of what looks to be a top-notch episode in July on the Official Star Wars blog. Take a look!

Season 1, Episode 9 - Cloak of Darkness

2008-12-05T22:42:00.000-08:00

Cloak of Darkness is so elegantly plotted and so fantastically directed, that it pains me to admit I found its one major flaw so frustrating. Somehow, the writers of The Clone Wars have the relationship between Ahsoka Tano and, well, everything utterly upside down. They did, though, finally start to get Asajj Ventress right.

Before I go there, let me get the important part out of the way: Cloak of Darkness is an episode that could be proudly shown to almost any skeptical Star Wars fan as proof that The Clone Wars series rocks. The twists and turns of the plot all add up perfectly, the characterizations are spot on, and the choices made are, generally, good ones. Also, the action is phenomenal here: the best fight choreography that the series has seen yet.

One major plus for this episode is the deepening of Asajj Ventress, making her seem legitimately threatening. So far in The Clone Wars series (not counting her original 2003 introduction), Ventress has sneered and run around, but generally been bested by the A-List Jedi like Yoda and Obi-Wan. Putting her up against Luminara Unduli gives her room to kick ass, and Cloak of Darkness takes advantage of the opportunity.

Luminara is also well-realized here, and well-voiced by Olivia D'Abo (of Wonder Years fame). Since her first appearance in Attack of the Clones (for seconds) she's captured fan imagination, mostly because of the uniqueness and beauty of her design.

We also see the introduction of the Senate Commandos, a cross between the Imperial Guard and a Clone Trooper in design, who are decidedly NOT Clones. Where they take that storyline is rather telling: the Clones are shown the be dedicated to following orders. We see the upside of that in Cloak of Darkness. (There is, of course, a rather serious downside...)

The only problem I have with Cloak of Darkness isn't actually a small one: what the hell are they doing with Ahsoka? Are we intended to believe that Luminara Unduli, Jedi Master, is not only more naive about Asajj Ventress than Ahsoka is, but also would declare herself a fool and thank Ahsoka for saving her life by the end of the episode? Suffice to say, I feel a bit like the Master-Padawan relationship between the cloying Ahsoka Tano and just about every other Jedi is entirely backwards. She tells Anakin what to do, defies Yoda and Obi-Wan, has a personal relationship with Plo Koon, and now, all but shames Luminara. Whe does this padawan start learning from Jedi Masters, as opposed to teaching them?

Rating (out of five): *** 3/4

Cloak of Darkness, Episode 9, Tonight

2008-12-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

Cloak of Darkness tonight. Read the episode guide and preview here at StarWars.com. Come back after the episode to read the review.

The synposis: Ahsoka and Jedi Master Luminara escort captured Viceroy Nute Gunray to trial, unaware that Count Dooku has dispatched his deadly apprentice assassin Asajj Ventress to free the prisoner and eliminate the Jedi.

Season 1, Episode 8 - Bombad Jedi

2008-12-02T08:35:00.000-08:00

Poor Jar Jar Binks. Universally acknowledged as the jump-the-shark character for many fans, and he appears in the first twenty minutes of The Phantom Menace. The backlash against him was so fierce, that his dismissal in Attack of the Clones drew cheers from live audiences, and his appearance in Revenge of the Sith was little more than a cameo.

I won't deny that I found his character a bit cloying, but he also had one moment in The Phantom Menace that showed his character as he could have been. Just before the final reel, on Coruscant, Amidala is staring out at the horizon, feeling trapped by her circumstances, helpless to save her citizens. By her side is Jar Jar Binks. In that moment, he stops yelping and falling over, and speaks about his people.

It's in this moment the now infamous "yousa thinkin' yousa people gonna dieee?" line appears. But if you watch that scene, Jar Jar never seems more photo-realistic, more honorable, and more soulful. It doesn't seem (excuse me) jarring; it seems like a natural extension of the character. There was always, it seemed, intended to be a noble soul beneath the clown. Something redeemable and even wise.

It's a shame that the films were never able to adequately mine this part of the character. Instead, he was written off-stage left. He's given an important trivia note in Star Wars lore, certainly (He's to blame for giving Palpatine emergency powers) but chalk that up to just further humiliation for the character. The powers-that-be heard the outcry, and threw Binks under the bus.

I say all this because... I enjoyed Bombad Jedi. I thought it was really rather funny, and made use of three characters in Star Wars that certainly (at least in the prequels) had some rough spots in terms of audiences embracing them. (Heck, C3-PO is one of my favorite characters, and even I groaned when I heard "This is such a drag!") I was glad to see some great character work, Jar Jar's heroic efforts, Padme's ever likable characterization in the series, and the always wonderful Anthony Daniels collecting another well-earned paycheck. It was also brought to life by Kevin Rubio, of Troops fame, and you can see him taking pains to use the slapstick for good effect. The sight gag of Padme's Naboo Cruiser being thoroughly leveled is a good one for the Clone Wars highlight reel, as well.

And while this is the "Jar Jar Episode" the story is really Padme's. Set on Rodia (homeworld of those who shot second), it's a reenactment of Ambush's dilemma - will the planet side with the Separatists or the Republic. All of this was perfectly servicable, and watchable, if not all that interesting.

All in all, though, Jar Jar remains his least interesting self. More than even in the films, this Jar Jar is an idiotic boob, relentlessly failing, with a childlike intellect. His victories come almost entirely by accident, and we are meant to view him, at best, as well-meaning. I'd love to see a hint of the noble Jar Jar beneath the surface, that was given short shrift in the films when the character fell instantly out of favor.

Rating (out of five) **1/2

Season 1, Episode 7 - Duel of the Droids

2008-12-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

Duel of the Droids is the second of a two-parter, and a thoroughly entertaining one at that. It's also directed, notably, by Rob Coleman himself: the animation director for the prequel trilogy.

His experience shows in every frame of this episode. Lightsaber duels are performed with moody panache; the dive onto Skytop Station is bathed in autumn hues; the final "duel" of the episode's namesake is staged with racous tension, and wouldn't have looked out of place in one of the films.

Essentially, the story is of the rescue of Artoo from the clutches of the Separatists. Much like Destroy Malevolence, it involved infiltrating on Separatist ground, racing against the clock, and outthinking superior numbers. It's got all the best elements of a good Star Wars adventure, and it delivers.

While the action soars, Duel of the Droids doesn't overlook the details. Grievous's dispatching of Gha Nachkt comes as a violent shock (and a shoutout to a deleted scene in Revenge of the Sith), for example. We also see, for the first time, Artoo completely disassembled, in an amusing sequence.

It's also inventive. The quoting of other adventures is at a minimum here; as well. We see the first duel between Ahsoka and Grievous, and the battle is uniquely suited to these two relatively new characters. R2-D2s battle with his unlucky replacement shows Star Wars fans something they've never had the pleasure to see, as well. Even if (as stated in the previous episode's review) there is never any real question about Artoo's safety, it's a vibrant episode, one of the series best so far.

Rating (out of five) **** 1/2

Season 1, Episode 6 - Downfall of a Droid

2008-11-24T09:38:00.000-08:00

Downfall of a Droid is the setup episode for a superior payoff, Duel of the Droids. On its own, it's perfectly acceptable television, with some great character moments and battle sequences, but it's ultimately incomplete. It also reveals an essential weakness the series has: putting well-trod characters in jeopardy.

Artoo is lost in a space battle in this episode, and is replaced by the seemingly incompetent R3-S6. While everyone around Anakin views Artoo as lost and replaceable; Anakin can't let go of his friend. To add fuel to his argument that Artoo must be found, Anakin notes that Artoo contains a full array of Republic Military schematics in his databanks. With that, the Republic agrees to let him seek out Artoo.

Will Artoo be rescued? Of course. As hard as the episode works to establish moodiness and menace, the outcome is rarely in doubt. It makes for a less than compelling storyline overall. The fact that the action and character work rise to the level they do is a testament to the expert work done here. Let's face it: we all know Artoo makes it out alive.

Only 6 episodes into the series, the idea that Anakin can't "let go" is already a bit soggy. In fact, it's almost counter-intuitive. Anakin's loyalty here plays out like a heroic quality; but in the ultimate saga of the prequels, its his fatal flaw. Or, perhaps, its simply Jedi orthodoxy that creates Darth Vader. It's certainly complex, but its thoroughly ambiguous. In episodes like this one, where Anakin's loyalty makes him try to save a beloved character, it's hard to remember the sense of forboding that his rebelliousness is intended to illicit.

Also, Anakin's mistrust of R3-S6 (later vindicated) comes off as baseless and intolerant, initially. It's hardly Anakin's judgment that R3 is a traitor; he simply feels that the droid is incompotent. The distinction here makes for a less sympathetic Anakin (fine with me) but when the second part of the series reveals R3's intentions, it comes off as all-too-easy in terms of justifying Anakin's behavior.

That being said, I enjoyed the smarmy introduction of Gha Nachkt (voiced by Ron Perlman); a sort of less than charming Watto with bad intentions. The IG assasin droid scene, as well, is certainly energetic and fun.

The next episode builds off of this one nicely, though, and winds up as one of the series best episodes to date. So maybe the slow burn here, flaws and all, are worth a few odd notes.

Rating (out of five) ** 1/2