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).

TCW - "Liberty on Ryloth"

They should have titled this episode "The Wrath of Mace Windu." Not a complaint; just an observation.

It's interesting to see how the different episodes of "The Ryloth Trilogy" each examine the Clone Wars from a different perspective. "Storm Over Ryloth" looked at the war from the military commanders' perspective, "Innocents of Ryloth" gave us a glimpse at the way the civilians see the war, and "Liberty on Ryloth" shows us the political side.

In this episode, we get to see the "Radical Revolutionary vs Pudgy Politician" conflict, and I'm not sure it entirely worked. It's nice that they're working in all of the important political detail in this show, but it doesn't always work. This episode really only gave us a glimpse at what was going on in Ryloth's political arena, but a longer story (filled with some good back-and-forth drama) would have served that angle better.

However, one thing that was shown surprisingly well was the cruelty of the Separatists.

They BOMBED a VILLAGE filled with women and children. Just as the Republic troops are talking about giving out food to the villagers, they turn around to see the entire village DEAD. It was an extremely well-done scene.

The Mace Windu action scenes were very cool; some of the best stuff seen on this show yet. His use of the shatterpoint technique against the glass was taken straight from the Star Wars novels, which I always appreciate.

Overall, this was a good episode, but not completely amazing.

TCW - "Innocents of Ryloth"

This was a really great episode. I can't quite put my finger on why, but it just felt "nice." It gave the war a more personal feel without making it sappy or silly, which is quite an achievement.

The character of Numa could have been annoying, but she ultimately turned out to be lovable, much like the character Newt from Aliens (which Numa is based on).

It was really interesting to see the clones, Waxer and Boil, as they showed how clones deal with compassion in their own varying ways. It does a lot to humanize the clones, who have thus far been mostly shown only to be concerned with their soldier duty.

Just about every aspect of this episode is extremely well-done. There's honestly nothing wrong with it. "Innocents of Ryloth" really shows the humanity of the Clone Wars, and actually makes you care about what's going on. Because of that, it's one of the standout episodes thus far.

TCW - "Storm Over Ryloth"

This episode is a turning point for Ahsoka. In the span of 22 minutes, she's forced to get over her teenage "I can do anything" attitude and act like a true leader. It's refreshing to see Ahsoka truly treated like a growing character rather than a firmly-set constant like the rest of the show's main cast.

I love well-done space battles, and this was a great one. Ahsoka's Star Destroyer flank maneuver is straight out of Heir to the Empire, which I greatly appreciate. One of my favorite things in Star Wars is getting to see the military tactics behind the epic battles, so this episode was a real treat for me.

Anakin's maneuver was a nice demonstration of his character: brash and reckless, yet skilled and effective. It's nice that we're getting these glimpses into Anakin's character that surpass the whiny toddler-of-a-man that we saw in the Prequel films.

Between Ahsoka's development and the well-plotted space action, this story was great.

TCW - "Mystery of a Thousand Moons"

This episode was split between two different viewpoints: Padmé and Ahsoka's struggle to survive after they are infected with the Blue Shadow virus (*eye-roll*), and Anakin and Obi-Wan's quest to retrieve the cure for them.

One thing I find odd: In the last episode, the Jedi stop Doctor Vindi's bombs from exploding, but in the beginning of this one the virus explodes anyway. Wouldn't the virus threat have been a good cliffhanger for the last episode? Why did that plot point get repeated? It reminds me of the drugged drink fakeout in the end of "Dooku Captured." It's just odd.

Also, what was up with that kid?

He was given a heckuva lot of personality for a character that apparently only exists for exposition's sake. It's just weird.

On the plus side of things, we got to actually see something only vaguely mentioned in The Phantom Menace.

Anakin: "Are you an angel?"
Padme: "What?"
Anakin: "An angel. I hear the deep space pilots talk about them. They're the most beautiful creatures in the universe. They live on the moons of... Iego, I think."

And hey, as it turns out, this episode is partly set on Iego, planet of a thousand moons, where we see none other than...

An Angel.

Awesome. I'd always assumed that it was a throwaway line from TPM, but apparently Angels actually exist in the Star Wars galaxy. Very, very cool.

Another cool nod to the films was the moon's Death Star-like laser.

That's no space station... it's a moon. Wait, what?

However, aside from the Angels and Death Star guns, this episode has almost nothing going for it. The plot is all over the place and seemingly random, and Jar Jar is still there, screwing up everything else on Naboo that actually had a chance of being good.

Side effects of Jar-Jar include paleness, cold sweats, and death.

TCW - "Blue Shadow Virus"

Honestly, I think I hate this episode. It had a few highlights, but, overall, it felt like an insult to my intelligence.

The Good:

• Seeing Naboo again, especially the starfighter hangar. That setting was a favorite of mine growing up, and it's nice to see it in a new story.
• The lightsaber action. It seems to have progressed beyond the staleness of early episodes.
  
• Ahsoka's Force-hover-thermal-detonator trick.
  

The Bad:

• Jar-Jar and his looney-toon antics.
  
• The villain's motivation. He claimed that he was "creating life" by reviving the Blue Shadow virus, but, as anyone who's gone through high school biology should know, VIRUSES ARE NOT ALIVE. At best, viruses are incredibly complicated poisons or intricately designed infectious materials; they are not living cells themselves, like bacteria. I don't think it's nitpicking to point out that the main goal of a supposedly brilliant virologist contradicted the most basic fact about viruses.
  
  
  
• What, Jedi can't catch tiny falling vials with the Force? They have to jump over and grab them all? Come to think of it, it'd probably be a better idea to use the Force to grab the vials, considering that Anakin's metal grip is more likely to accidentally crush one. Just a few minutes prior to this scene, we see Ahsoka (a PADAWAN) use the Force to maneuver small objects; it's ridiculous to suddenly have the Jedi MASTERS not be able to do the same thing on even lighter objects. That is absolutely shoddy writing, and it's inexcusable.
  

Aside from the fact that the episode is set on Naboo, I really don't see too many positives here. This may be as bad as "The Gungan General," and that was BAD.

TCW - "The Hidden Enemy"

In this installment of TCW, we get two highly controversial things: a traitor clone and a prequel storyline.

It turns out that this episode actually takes place before the Clone Wars movie. While I think it's great to show backstory, it was rather jarring to see this episode with absolutely no indication that it took place outside of the main timeline. It's something that I definitely don't like.

Having a clone be a traitor was very... odd. While it makes sense that there'd be a bad clone made every now and then, what didn't make sense was the mixed moral message. Once again, I really wish that this series would stop attempting to insert moral messages in its narrative. Thus far, it just doesn't work.

Oh well. The action scenes were nice.