After a couple of Ahsoka-focused episodes, The Clone Wars decided it would be best to do a throwaway droids episode, followed by a jokey Ziro the Hut episode. Huh?
1. “Evil Plans”
This droids-centric episode didn’t leave me with too much to say about it. I understand why these shows exist; this is a bone tossed to those who really only care about the characters from the films, as well as an episode for little kids to enjoy. In fact, my daughter, who loves Star Wars but often isn’t too interested in The Clone Wars, was instantly drawn in when I was watching this the other night.
But for me, this episode was a waste. Sure, Artoo at the droid spa is a funny concept, but aside from setting up a small piece of business with Cad Bane stealing some blueprints from within Artoo. Again, I get it: these were ostensibly for children, broadcast on Cartoon Network. It’s not exactly the edgiest stuff out there. But that doesn’t mean that this episode felt anything other than slight. I mean, the big conflict is set up around not having the proper fruit for a dessert.
2. A Star Wars Mafia Story
So, the second of these episodes, “Hunt for Ziro,” was doing everything it could to be a mafia-style story. Between the ‘five families’ of Hutts, Ziro’s disapproving mother, the underworld controlled clubs, it was about as blatant an homage as possible. And, on the surface, that’s fine. It is a little odd that we’ve known Jabba for 30+ years, and find out that his relatives can speak English, but for the most part, his story isn’t changed much by this development. You know him as a loansharking criminal, so it isn’t a total retcon. It’s just not played very subtly.
3. Quinlan Voss
A new Jedi emerges! While I would not want an entire Jedi Order like Voss, it is nice to see a Jedi with a modicum of personality for one. Instead of the stuffy bureaucrats we’ve gotten used to, we instead get an impulsive showoff, albeit one with extreme tracking ability. The disconnect between he and Obi-Wan feels a little forced in the beginning, if only because we’ve seen Kenobi be more willing to take risks/go above and beyond than some of his Jedi compatriots.
But it was nice to see some diversity of attitude in the Order, and his skills, paired with Obi-Wan’s nimble mind, made for a good team. Their showdown with Cad Bane was a little anti-climactic, but that’s part of the trouble of such a long series – things tend to go on and on.
4. Zyyyyyyyyp
I’m glad that even a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, DJs still use records, and they still scratch them when someone shocking enters a room.
5. Sy Snootles
Although one of the dumbest named characters in the Star Wars canon, Sy Snootles is an instantly recognizable presence, from her time with the Max Rebo Band in Return of the Jedi. Setting her up to be a cold blooded killer was not something I expected, though it was better than have her be the googly-eyed lovebird the first 2/3 of the episode set her up to be.
Overall, these episodes felt a little clunky to me, and weren’t anywhere near the heights of last week’s double shot of Ahsoka.
