Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 6x05-6x07
Aug. 6th, 2021 09:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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tori_reviewsI was going to post the last of the HDM reviews tonight, but I need to give it some more thought it looks like. So instead, more TCW.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 6x05-6x07 (arc 2)
This arc was…not bad, but incredibly messy.
If I can start with a couple of very small observations. They really shouldn’t show Palpatine in profile like that, it makes it obvious that his ears are stupid sized. I’ve always known I hated his character model on this show, but I never put the time into exactly what it was that was so wrong with it; and the ears aren’t the only problem, but right now they’re all I can see and I hate them.
On another minor note, whoever designed Anakin’s room (as a set) did a good job. That’s totally a college boy look and Anakin is still supposed to be like 21 (I think, it’s really not clear).
Then to flip to the other end of problems, when is this supposed to happen? This is a huge problem for me, because no answer makes sense. This feels very near endgame for Palpatine’s plans, and yet no one else is where they would need to be for that to be true. Except maybe Anakin who is pretty much on a knife’s edge of light and dark for this arc. And that time confusion would almost be more understandable, if the show didn’t lock itself into the narrow timeframe the movie gap had left them. Palpatine could be coming to an endgame but still have a year to go before the war ends, during which time others would move to where they need to be. But you really need to have already had a long, drawn out war to have brought the banking system to its knees this way.
And seriously, should we just assume that pregnancy only lasts like four months in this world? Because Padme is clearly not pregnant yet (at least not very, I’ll grant she might just not be showing yet), and that’s fair since it’s supposed to come as a surprise to Anakin in RotS when she’s already very pregnant. Which means at some point they’re going to have to spend some decent time apart that I wonder how the show will handle (not that there haven’t been gaps before).
Also, while I will allow that this could possibly be the start of her descent towards where she’s supposed to be in RotS regarding the politics at play, I feel like we’re still a ways away from ‘So this is how liberty dies’ Padme.
On a small personal view note, Obi-wan mentions Satine, but not in a way that makes me think this comes after her death. In fact the first thing that went through my head when I heard him say that was, ‘Really, now you’re going to bring her up? And just a little bit? This kind of reference seems like the s2 stuff was the last major thing with her.’ And Anakin definitely doesn’t react like Obi-wan just brought up his tragically murdered sort-of-girlfriend. But I’m not sure there’s anything else that indicates these episodes are out of order (nor do I see a source that says that).
Which is kind of at the heart of the big problem, that this should have been an ongoing arc, not a tacked on cluster of episodes. We should have had other indications that the money situation was causing problems. Maybe split off the Rise of Clovis part from the Fall of Clovis part (which would have more room to breathe instead of everything happening at once) and have them bookend some other events. Somewhat ironically, that’s one of the few things I really praised about the Fall of Mandalor arc that especially when watched in release order it sets up that a lot of other stuff has been happening in the background before our lead characters are called in to get involved. (At least that was how I read it, and still think it makes more sense. The official timeline might not agree with me it seems.)
Pulling some of these points together, this episode takes me back to why this show can never seem to gain much traction with me. They didn’t hammer out the timeline before they started writing the show; and yet they were locked into a timeframe that had already been set up. Like they should have known from the beginning that at such-and-such a point they needed to have a big Anakin/Padme episode that the audience can later look back and suspect that was when the twins were conceived; but then the two of them can’t see each other for quite a while. They should have had a roadmap for parts of Palpatine’s plans coming to fruition; maybe each season there’s a shadow plot that the audience is aware of but the characters at most thwarted something that was actually only the tip of the iceberg. If they were going to introduce an arc like Mandalor or the banking system collapse, you need to know where you are in those arcs at any given point and where you want them to end up.
And/or you have to decouple the timeframe; you have to allow there to have been the time for all of this to take place in. And while the 2-3 years given in the movies seems reasonable, the more you have to pack into those years the less sense it makes.
More importantly is the long-arc planning. This needed that.
Now, while I can fairly easily accept that Obi-wan is well clued into Anakin and Padme (maybe not the marriage, but that they’re probably together), I don’t like the implication that basically everyone is in on it. It doesn’t make sense with Yoda and Mace’s characterization that they be okay ribbing Anakin about it instead of actually trying to stop it. Also, haven’t there been times in the past when those two actually went out and did things instead of sitting around the Temple getting played by Palpatine?
Beyond that, the Anakin and Padme relationship is another one of those things that’s hard for me to sort out the timeline on. Personally I am inclined to think we should have had a story like this a couple season ago, so I’m kind of okay with pretending it did. I like that the secret relationship is taking its toll, I’d like the implication that there are rumors about them but no one is sure if it’s a thing (well, Bail probably knows), I even like their interactions in a story sense. However, with Anakin sending all the red flags in this story, I’m not sure where to put it. If it’s late…you really want to have a kid with this guy? If it’s earlier…I know you two can’t get couples’ counseling, but you really need it. Also, as with most things, I would have liked to see the estrangement be an ongoing thing that affects their dynamic; hell it could have been when they don’t talk much until RotS if it had been planned that way. But I lack any confidence in the show to have put that kind of thought into it.
This arc is benefitting from the fact that the last couple have been pretty good. If we’d seen this during my low points in s4 I doubt I would have liked it so much. And although I think I would have had enough to say about each episode to fill reviews of each (the amount I would have ended up talking about this show’s odd conception of banking would have filled a lot of space), it would have further damaged my opinion of all of them. And I guess that’s the long and short of it; it’s fine, but it should be better.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 6x05-6x07 (arc 2)
This arc was…not bad, but incredibly messy.
If I can start with a couple of very small observations. They really shouldn’t show Palpatine in profile like that, it makes it obvious that his ears are stupid sized. I’ve always known I hated his character model on this show, but I never put the time into exactly what it was that was so wrong with it; and the ears aren’t the only problem, but right now they’re all I can see and I hate them.
On another minor note, whoever designed Anakin’s room (as a set) did a good job. That’s totally a college boy look and Anakin is still supposed to be like 21 (I think, it’s really not clear).
Then to flip to the other end of problems, when is this supposed to happen? This is a huge problem for me, because no answer makes sense. This feels very near endgame for Palpatine’s plans, and yet no one else is where they would need to be for that to be true. Except maybe Anakin who is pretty much on a knife’s edge of light and dark for this arc. And that time confusion would almost be more understandable, if the show didn’t lock itself into the narrow timeframe the movie gap had left them. Palpatine could be coming to an endgame but still have a year to go before the war ends, during which time others would move to where they need to be. But you really need to have already had a long, drawn out war to have brought the banking system to its knees this way.
And seriously, should we just assume that pregnancy only lasts like four months in this world? Because Padme is clearly not pregnant yet (at least not very, I’ll grant she might just not be showing yet), and that’s fair since it’s supposed to come as a surprise to Anakin in RotS when she’s already very pregnant. Which means at some point they’re going to have to spend some decent time apart that I wonder how the show will handle (not that there haven’t been gaps before).
Also, while I will allow that this could possibly be the start of her descent towards where she’s supposed to be in RotS regarding the politics at play, I feel like we’re still a ways away from ‘So this is how liberty dies’ Padme.
On a small personal view note, Obi-wan mentions Satine, but not in a way that makes me think this comes after her death. In fact the first thing that went through my head when I heard him say that was, ‘Really, now you’re going to bring her up? And just a little bit? This kind of reference seems like the s2 stuff was the last major thing with her.’ And Anakin definitely doesn’t react like Obi-wan just brought up his tragically murdered sort-of-girlfriend. But I’m not sure there’s anything else that indicates these episodes are out of order (nor do I see a source that says that).
Which is kind of at the heart of the big problem, that this should have been an ongoing arc, not a tacked on cluster of episodes. We should have had other indications that the money situation was causing problems. Maybe split off the Rise of Clovis part from the Fall of Clovis part (which would have more room to breathe instead of everything happening at once) and have them bookend some other events. Somewhat ironically, that’s one of the few things I really praised about the Fall of Mandalor arc that especially when watched in release order it sets up that a lot of other stuff has been happening in the background before our lead characters are called in to get involved. (At least that was how I read it, and still think it makes more sense. The official timeline might not agree with me it seems.)
Pulling some of these points together, this episode takes me back to why this show can never seem to gain much traction with me. They didn’t hammer out the timeline before they started writing the show; and yet they were locked into a timeframe that had already been set up. Like they should have known from the beginning that at such-and-such a point they needed to have a big Anakin/Padme episode that the audience can later look back and suspect that was when the twins were conceived; but then the two of them can’t see each other for quite a while. They should have had a roadmap for parts of Palpatine’s plans coming to fruition; maybe each season there’s a shadow plot that the audience is aware of but the characters at most thwarted something that was actually only the tip of the iceberg. If they were going to introduce an arc like Mandalor or the banking system collapse, you need to know where you are in those arcs at any given point and where you want them to end up.
And/or you have to decouple the timeframe; you have to allow there to have been the time for all of this to take place in. And while the 2-3 years given in the movies seems reasonable, the more you have to pack into those years the less sense it makes.
More importantly is the long-arc planning. This needed that.
Now, while I can fairly easily accept that Obi-wan is well clued into Anakin and Padme (maybe not the marriage, but that they’re probably together), I don’t like the implication that basically everyone is in on it. It doesn’t make sense with Yoda and Mace’s characterization that they be okay ribbing Anakin about it instead of actually trying to stop it. Also, haven’t there been times in the past when those two actually went out and did things instead of sitting around the Temple getting played by Palpatine?
Beyond that, the Anakin and Padme relationship is another one of those things that’s hard for me to sort out the timeline on. Personally I am inclined to think we should have had a story like this a couple season ago, so I’m kind of okay with pretending it did. I like that the secret relationship is taking its toll, I’d like the implication that there are rumors about them but no one is sure if it’s a thing (well, Bail probably knows), I even like their interactions in a story sense. However, with Anakin sending all the red flags in this story, I’m not sure where to put it. If it’s late…you really want to have a kid with this guy? If it’s earlier…I know you two can’t get couples’ counseling, but you really need it. Also, as with most things, I would have liked to see the estrangement be an ongoing thing that affects their dynamic; hell it could have been when they don’t talk much until RotS if it had been planned that way. But I lack any confidence in the show to have put that kind of thought into it.
This arc is benefitting from the fact that the last couple have been pretty good. If we’d seen this during my low points in s4 I doubt I would have liked it so much. And although I think I would have had enough to say about each episode to fill reviews of each (the amount I would have ended up talking about this show’s odd conception of banking would have filled a lot of space), it would have further damaged my opinion of all of them. And I guess that’s the long and short of it; it’s fine, but it should be better.
