Season 1, Episode 22 - Hostage Crisis

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 5 - Rookies

Rookies isn't the first episode of the series that treats the clones like distinctive characters; but it is the first episode to put them front and center. Voiced by Dee Bradley Baker (who should be receiving five times the paycheck of the other voice talent), the Clones in "Rookies" include characters named Hevy, Echo and Cutup, Commander Cody, Captain Rex. They are joined by the rookies in question: Fives, Nub and the unfortunately named Droidbait.

Stationed at a dull outpost, the Shiny's (the term for Rookie in clone culture) settle into a life of boredom. Of course, this being a 22 minute episode of Star Wars, things don't stay dull for long. The Clones are soon outnumbered and overrun by Battle Droids.

"Rookies" is smartly produced and encouraging. Not only does it show that the showrunners know how to quickly make the stock clones unique visually, but their personalities miraculously come through as well. No small feat with a single voice actor and less than 30 minutes to play with.

What's deceptive here is that the uniqueness of each clone comes from a singleness of purpose. Each clones has a single characteristic that they play to the hilt. One is a regulations maven, another a joker. What's more interesting is the interplay between Commander Cody and Captain Rex, who are mirrors of their respective Jedi partners, Obi-Wan and Anakin. Rex, being Anakin's right-hand man, is impulsive and daring; Cody is a thoughtful leader.

Cody's story is more fully told, and we know it ends with a twinge of pain. It's Cody who orders his own troops to fire on Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith. Rex, though, is an unknown. Does he die? Is he simply off-stage during the main action of Sith? Is he among Anakin's clone guard when Anakin massacre's the Jedi Temple?

We don't know, of course. It's wonderful to see that those characters are being played as not only extensions of their Jedi counterparts, but characters in their own right. It makes their journey far more fascinating, as we fill in their gaps and come to see them as heroes in their own right.

The other wonderful innovation in "Rookies" is the Commando Droid. Praise Lucas, we certainly needed droids that were a threat to the clones. The Commandos, with tough armor, better instincts, and clearly heightened combat abilities, are a welcome addition. We'll see how the series explains their disappearance by Episode III.

All in all, a solid episode, and an original one. I look forward to later episodes of the series, when we know the clones better, to make their lives, and deaths, more impactful. When Rex dies (or doesn't) I hope to feel more than I did when Cutup was eaten by an eel.

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

Update: You know what? I just watched this episode again. To heck with it. ****