TCW - "Hostage Crisis"

This is by far the most violent episode of The Clone Wars thus far. We get on-screen neck breaks and an execution shot to the back. Fun. ^-^

On a lighter note, this may be the first time we've seen Anakin and Padmé's relationship not be completely awkward and creepy. It's true that Anakin's "romantic gesture" was a stupid, stupid thing to do, but hey, at least the dialogue didn't sound horrible. This scene made their relationship seem sweet, rather than forbidden and terrible as it was seen in the films.

Cade Bane's character is very original for Star Wars, and it's nice to have him here. He's not my favorite bounty hunter, but he's pretty cool nonetheless. The fact that he was rescuing ZIRO, of all people, however, was a little silly. Still, he'll be a great character to have around in Season 2, which actually brings me to my next point.

This episode seemed more like a preview of Season 2 than an actual episode. If it had not been the final episode in a season, I'd have no problem. However, the fact that this episode doesn't really have much of a resolution is problematic. Bane just walks in, grabs Ziro, and leaves. That's it. There's not much real emotional drama here like we just saw with the Ryloth trilogy. What we do have is very cool, but still rather disappointing. The only thing that's really won or lost in this episode is Ziro, and do we really care about him?

On a last note, it was really great to see Aurra Sing in action, since she's one of those characters that is only barely seen in the films, yet is cool enough to warrant much more. (being a fallen Jedi and all) She can and should become a much bigger character in future episodes.

All in all, this was really more of an epilogue or a preview than a finale. It was definitely a cool episode, but was more like the first act of Die Hard (where the villains take over) without the rest of the story (where John McClane strikes back).