TCW - "Cat and Mouse"

"Cat and Mouse" is a fun episode, if not necessarily mind-blowing. At its core, it's a classic submarine warfare story, something that's no stranger to sci-fi and fantasy, having been highlighted in the Star Trek universe in some of its most famous stories (the TOS episode "Balance of Terror;" Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan's Mutara Nebula sequence).

The character bits here are pretty minimal; it's the usual "Anakin acts somewhat irresponsibly but manages to make it work in the end" story. This is the first time Anakin has met Yularen, however, which is somewhat interesting.

This episode is set all the way at the beginning of the Clone Wars timeline, before the Clone Wars movie and "The Hidden Enemy." While this is certainly a good story, there was no reason to set it so early. Yularen and Anakin's first meeting certainly wasn't shown to be all that important. Why not set it in "current" time?

Random note: the cloaking effect used here is straight out of Star Wars: Rebel Assault II, one of my absolute favorite games as a kid. That makes me happy.

This is a good episode. It's got smartly-done, if simple, tactical action, and serviceable character and plot density. It just didn't really wow me.