Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 3x17 - 18
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tori_reviewsStar Wars: The Clone Wars – 3x17: “Ghosts of Mortis”
Maybe, if and when I finish this series, I should come back to these episodes, I suspect that's when they'll have the most meaning attached to them. Right now I'm not quite sure how I feel about it, I keep seeing about equal good and bad in it; I guess it's kind of a grey episode.
It was better than part 2 of the arc, but still contains some of the problems of it. It does get back some of the philosophy I was so into in part 1, but it can't seem to settle itself. I'm not a fan of making it basically not count in the end; yes they remember it (I think), but I don't see it being that big a deal. Maybe I'm wrong, I'd like to be, but I don't expect to be.
And looking at what this episode introduces only makes me think of wasted potential. I think if they either made it an episode that pushes Anakin a little closer to the Dark Side and he remembers it, that would have been a solid and weighty episode. If they were going to make it ultimately mean so little, then they should have fully embraced the opportunity to go down a road they can't in canon because we know how this ends. Give the story the time and space to really explore Anakin wanting to change his story-destiny, show us what this Anakin does with the knowledge of what he can become; perhaps he runs from destiny only to find himself falling into it anyway?
While that section was going on, and before they just mind-wiped it away, I found myself thinking they could do something Babylon 5 like (I know, I always want shows to be Babylon 5; they never are), where Anakin thinks he changed his destiny, that he's made the choice that will turn him away from it, except you can't change the future because you end up in that future by trying to change it. Especially since the first part of this arc introduced the idea that the Chosen One's destiny was to take over controlling this planet; let Brother imply that if Anakin stays here that will be what pushes Anakin to the Dark Side (after all, he'll be here with Brother all the time, and have so much power at his finger tips). Show Anakin rejecting the power, for good and selfless (but also selfish) reasons; and come out of this thinking he's protecting people from his own worst impulses; while the audience knows that in reality he's very much on the path and will turn to the Dark Side when he thinks he needs the power.
I also wanted them to show Anakin going up the edge and being able to pull himself back this time; with Obi-wan and Ahsoka's help. We know he won't next time (at least not for decades), but he's not there yet. It would end up being a great demonstration why Jedi eschew personal attachments (sort of); that Anakin wouldn't turn when attacked head on by the temptation, but find a weakness where darker impulses can slip in and he will end up turning.
This trilogy, even part 2, is such a good idea; but it's not good. Part of it it being a prequel; in this case it's more ep3 that holds it back than the OT, but writing to that as an ending requires really good planning that I just don't think this show has. But this is at least partly a me thing; I cut my teeth on really understanding story structure by watching Babylon 5 as a tween/teenager, so I've known most of my life that a story can be told where knowing the end point doesn't take away from the path to get there.
A problem somewhat connected with it being a prequel is that it's also a cartoon. I just don't think I'm ever going to completely buy that the animated characters and the live action ones are entirely the same people. So I have this nagging voice of my head that does a weird thing and says I can forgive places the continuity doesn't line up (multiple Grievous encounters, multiple Dooku encounters, the existence of Ahsoka, etc.) because it's not really the same world; but that means they would have the freedom to do something really surprising even without changing the endpoint. Something that, like those other things, doesn't really fit with movie canon but we'll pretend it does well enough.
In the end, I think both of my reactions through this story arc are correct. I wish I liked it more than I do; but I wish I didn't like it as much as I do too. I can see so much potential in it, that what we get just seems shallow and hollow; but I do think the depth I see was put there on purpose and I can't decide if that makes it better or worse. I just feel very confused; and I wish I didn't because it's not a good confused where I want to just race through watching to find out the answers. I don't really have the faith that will solve my problem.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 3x18: “The Citadel”
After the last couple arcs which had this show kind of failing at being something different for a bit, this is TCW succeeding at being itself. And kind of the best version of itself.
Too often on this show the pacing feels off by being split over episodes, because they end up trying to rush to a conclusion and then needing to restart with the sane pieces in the next ep. This time, it feels like they're pacing it as a multi-part story. Yes they've gotten through a task, but the story is going on into the next act; and that allows the whole thing (so far) much better pacing. I can pick up on things that are likely to pay off down the line for one thing w(like ith R2 and the droids for example) and not having to always do setup and payoff in the same episode is a good thing in my book. Especially on a half hour show; and yes I will keep bringing that up because I think it's a big stone around this show's neck that is stopping it from becoming something more than okay with hints of really good.
There are a couple things I'd like to muddle through though. Let's start with the smaller one. I like that Tarkin is here, that makes sense; but I cannot catch on to what they're doing with him. They're definitely playing up the things that make him recognizably Tarkin. The voice sounds closer to a parody than an actual voice but that's the lesser problem. I can't tell if I'm supposed to think he has and/or will sell people out; of if that's a side-effect of him seeming so Tarkin-y that it's impossible to see him as a good guy. And I think it would have been awesome to show that Tarkin is Lawful Evil, or even Lawful Neutral. Show him a person who, when he was fighting for the Republic, would be considered on the good side; but when the (semi-)legitimate government was the Empire he served them equally loyally. Now, you can'[t quite ignore that the guy is going to one day gleefully command the destruction of planets, but it could have been done in a nuanced way. Like they're trying to do with Anakin; admittedly only partially succeeding in my book (especially after the last arc).
But do I think the show will do that? Not really; and maybe that, as much as playing up the Tarkin-ness, is why I'm fairly sure they shouldn't be trusting him.
I saw or read something not too long ago that was a think piece on why SW fandom responded so negatively to TLJ; and talked about how Star Wars had always existed in a simplistic black and white universe and TLJ introduced that there were other ways to view it. I didn't agree with that idea, and had to spend some time thinking about why. I think a lot of it is from the fact that so much of my immersion in Star Wars came not from the movies but the roleplaying game. And for the purposes of that game, we spent a lot of time going places that were just normal places in the galaxy; trying to get by under the Empire, or on the outer edges of space they didn't really care about central politics except in a few places the Empire actually had a presence. We were a team that was equal parts smuggler crew and Rebellion employees; along with trying to keep off the Empire's radar for a variety of other reasons (up to and including harboring Jedi on the crew).
Why bring this up here instead of in the bottom section like I once said I would do? Because it concerns why I think the show is kind of cowardly, both in the last few arcs and probably with Tarkin. In so many cases it doesn't treat people as people, who have a variety of wants and drives and reasons for why they do things. The story *wants* to be viewed as so black and white in spite of constantly introducing things that don't have to be. I kept thinking in the last arc that they were hinting towards that, but 95% of the times they could have directly shown that there was room for other viewpoints, they would quickly veer back to the most black and white way they could present it. And that's just not working for me.
And Tarkin is classified as bad. We know that Tarkin is bad, so they're not going to show him in this story to have once been an honorable officer who made a few wrong turns along the way; or as a misguided idealist who came to believe the Empire really was the right move because so much went wrong in the Republic. That would be interesting and complex and non black and white thinking. And just because I don't think Star Wars needs to be that, the people who run it often seem to.
So I should have liked TLJ for finally doing something along those lines in canon right? Hell, maybe it *is* why I don't dislike Canto Bight quite as much (at least in theory) as so many people (when connected with other elements of the story I dislike it as much as anyone). It's still a bad movie.
...That turned into a bigger point than I thought. I'd assumed the second point was the more abstract one. But this adventure also kind of feels like we're in the endgame; which is weird when we have four-plus seasons left to go.
I think it is partly because this episode is good actually. It ends up kind of feeling like they finally have a path they can follow that will get them to where they need to be by ep3, but that path also doesn't feel very long. I feel like this gets Anakin and Obi-wan's relationship right for where they are in the movie. I feel like Ahsoka's defiance of Anakin in a sort of backwards way, could be used to explain her absence from the film. In fact I almost feel like the story *finally* got the three Jedi generation family down; I don't want that to come to an end, but I'm fairly accustomed to things only seeming to get right just before they go to hell. Hell, having Tarkin here is part of feels like they're making sure to get so many pieces in position to jump back to movie canon.
Some of the endgame-feel is just a vibe, along with so many years of TV viewing; but another part actually is what the story is doing. I'm sure I didn't perfectly follow the technobabble, but it sure sounded like these hyperspace routes would somehow lead to exact situation we saw at the beginning of RotS, should they fall into enemy hands. And considering my vibe off Tarkin, I'm kind of expecting that the Separatists will get their hands on these routes.
But we do have four seasons left, so maybe I'm just getting the wrong vibes.
Maybe, if and when I finish this series, I should come back to these episodes, I suspect that's when they'll have the most meaning attached to them. Right now I'm not quite sure how I feel about it, I keep seeing about equal good and bad in it; I guess it's kind of a grey episode.
It was better than part 2 of the arc, but still contains some of the problems of it. It does get back some of the philosophy I was so into in part 1, but it can't seem to settle itself. I'm not a fan of making it basically not count in the end; yes they remember it (I think), but I don't see it being that big a deal. Maybe I'm wrong, I'd like to be, but I don't expect to be.
And looking at what this episode introduces only makes me think of wasted potential. I think if they either made it an episode that pushes Anakin a little closer to the Dark Side and he remembers it, that would have been a solid and weighty episode. If they were going to make it ultimately mean so little, then they should have fully embraced the opportunity to go down a road they can't in canon because we know how this ends. Give the story the time and space to really explore Anakin wanting to change his story-destiny, show us what this Anakin does with the knowledge of what he can become; perhaps he runs from destiny only to find himself falling into it anyway?
While that section was going on, and before they just mind-wiped it away, I found myself thinking they could do something Babylon 5 like (I know, I always want shows to be Babylon 5; they never are), where Anakin thinks he changed his destiny, that he's made the choice that will turn him away from it, except you can't change the future because you end up in that future by trying to change it. Especially since the first part of this arc introduced the idea that the Chosen One's destiny was to take over controlling this planet; let Brother imply that if Anakin stays here that will be what pushes Anakin to the Dark Side (after all, he'll be here with Brother all the time, and have so much power at his finger tips). Show Anakin rejecting the power, for good and selfless (but also selfish) reasons; and come out of this thinking he's protecting people from his own worst impulses; while the audience knows that in reality he's very much on the path and will turn to the Dark Side when he thinks he needs the power.
I also wanted them to show Anakin going up the edge and being able to pull himself back this time; with Obi-wan and Ahsoka's help. We know he won't next time (at least not for decades), but he's not there yet. It would end up being a great demonstration why Jedi eschew personal attachments (sort of); that Anakin wouldn't turn when attacked head on by the temptation, but find a weakness where darker impulses can slip in and he will end up turning.
This trilogy, even part 2, is such a good idea; but it's not good. Part of it it being a prequel; in this case it's more ep3 that holds it back than the OT, but writing to that as an ending requires really good planning that I just don't think this show has. But this is at least partly a me thing; I cut my teeth on really understanding story structure by watching Babylon 5 as a tween/teenager, so I've known most of my life that a story can be told where knowing the end point doesn't take away from the path to get there.
A problem somewhat connected with it being a prequel is that it's also a cartoon. I just don't think I'm ever going to completely buy that the animated characters and the live action ones are entirely the same people. So I have this nagging voice of my head that does a weird thing and says I can forgive places the continuity doesn't line up (multiple Grievous encounters, multiple Dooku encounters, the existence of Ahsoka, etc.) because it's not really the same world; but that means they would have the freedom to do something really surprising even without changing the endpoint. Something that, like those other things, doesn't really fit with movie canon but we'll pretend it does well enough.
In the end, I think both of my reactions through this story arc are correct. I wish I liked it more than I do; but I wish I didn't like it as much as I do too. I can see so much potential in it, that what we get just seems shallow and hollow; but I do think the depth I see was put there on purpose and I can't decide if that makes it better or worse. I just feel very confused; and I wish I didn't because it's not a good confused where I want to just race through watching to find out the answers. I don't really have the faith that will solve my problem.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 3x18: “The Citadel”
After the last couple arcs which had this show kind of failing at being something different for a bit, this is TCW succeeding at being itself. And kind of the best version of itself.
Too often on this show the pacing feels off by being split over episodes, because they end up trying to rush to a conclusion and then needing to restart with the sane pieces in the next ep. This time, it feels like they're pacing it as a multi-part story. Yes they've gotten through a task, but the story is going on into the next act; and that allows the whole thing (so far) much better pacing. I can pick up on things that are likely to pay off down the line for one thing w(like ith R2 and the droids for example) and not having to always do setup and payoff in the same episode is a good thing in my book. Especially on a half hour show; and yes I will keep bringing that up because I think it's a big stone around this show's neck that is stopping it from becoming something more than okay with hints of really good.
There are a couple things I'd like to muddle through though. Let's start with the smaller one. I like that Tarkin is here, that makes sense; but I cannot catch on to what they're doing with him. They're definitely playing up the things that make him recognizably Tarkin. The voice sounds closer to a parody than an actual voice but that's the lesser problem. I can't tell if I'm supposed to think he has and/or will sell people out; of if that's a side-effect of him seeming so Tarkin-y that it's impossible to see him as a good guy. And I think it would have been awesome to show that Tarkin is Lawful Evil, or even Lawful Neutral. Show him a person who, when he was fighting for the Republic, would be considered on the good side; but when the (semi-)legitimate government was the Empire he served them equally loyally. Now, you can'[t quite ignore that the guy is going to one day gleefully command the destruction of planets, but it could have been done in a nuanced way. Like they're trying to do with Anakin; admittedly only partially succeeding in my book (especially after the last arc).
But do I think the show will do that? Not really; and maybe that, as much as playing up the Tarkin-ness, is why I'm fairly sure they shouldn't be trusting him.
I saw or read something not too long ago that was a think piece on why SW fandom responded so negatively to TLJ; and talked about how Star Wars had always existed in a simplistic black and white universe and TLJ introduced that there were other ways to view it. I didn't agree with that idea, and had to spend some time thinking about why. I think a lot of it is from the fact that so much of my immersion in Star Wars came not from the movies but the roleplaying game. And for the purposes of that game, we spent a lot of time going places that were just normal places in the galaxy; trying to get by under the Empire, or on the outer edges of space they didn't really care about central politics except in a few places the Empire actually had a presence. We were a team that was equal parts smuggler crew and Rebellion employees; along with trying to keep off the Empire's radar for a variety of other reasons (up to and including harboring Jedi on the crew).
Why bring this up here instead of in the bottom section like I once said I would do? Because it concerns why I think the show is kind of cowardly, both in the last few arcs and probably with Tarkin. In so many cases it doesn't treat people as people, who have a variety of wants and drives and reasons for why they do things. The story *wants* to be viewed as so black and white in spite of constantly introducing things that don't have to be. I kept thinking in the last arc that they were hinting towards that, but 95% of the times they could have directly shown that there was room for other viewpoints, they would quickly veer back to the most black and white way they could present it. And that's just not working for me.
And Tarkin is classified as bad. We know that Tarkin is bad, so they're not going to show him in this story to have once been an honorable officer who made a few wrong turns along the way; or as a misguided idealist who came to believe the Empire really was the right move because so much went wrong in the Republic. That would be interesting and complex and non black and white thinking. And just because I don't think Star Wars needs to be that, the people who run it often seem to.
So I should have liked TLJ for finally doing something along those lines in canon right? Hell, maybe it *is* why I don't dislike Canto Bight quite as much (at least in theory) as so many people (when connected with other elements of the story I dislike it as much as anyone). It's still a bad movie.
...That turned into a bigger point than I thought. I'd assumed the second point was the more abstract one. But this adventure also kind of feels like we're in the endgame; which is weird when we have four-plus seasons left to go.
I think it is partly because this episode is good actually. It ends up kind of feeling like they finally have a path they can follow that will get them to where they need to be by ep3, but that path also doesn't feel very long. I feel like this gets Anakin and Obi-wan's relationship right for where they are in the movie. I feel like Ahsoka's defiance of Anakin in a sort of backwards way, could be used to explain her absence from the film. In fact I almost feel like the story *finally* got the three Jedi generation family down; I don't want that to come to an end, but I'm fairly accustomed to things only seeming to get right just before they go to hell. Hell, having Tarkin here is part of feels like they're making sure to get so many pieces in position to jump back to movie canon.
Some of the endgame-feel is just a vibe, along with so many years of TV viewing; but another part actually is what the story is doing. I'm sure I didn't perfectly follow the technobabble, but it sure sounded like these hyperspace routes would somehow lead to exact situation we saw at the beginning of RotS, should they fall into enemy hands. And considering my vibe off Tarkin, I'm kind of expecting that the Separatists will get their hands on these routes.
But we do have four seasons left, so maybe I'm just getting the wrong vibes.
