Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 4x01 - 02
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tori_reviewsStar Wars: The Clone Wars – 4x01: “Water War”
Well, that was not good. Incredibly boring and highlighted yet another problem with this show. All around, not a good outing.
I actually had thought, that since I struggled with this show, maybe I could find some more interest by coming at it from a different angle. Maybe skip forward and watch a season of Mandalorian, that might give me some more perspective on whether it's the world, or the storytelling, or if it's my bias against animation that gets in the way. It may also be the prequel nature of the story that doesn't work for me; both in terms of being part of the Star Wars Prequel Era, and it being a prequel to where the era has to end up. But clearly, I didn't do that for this season break, maybe later.
(editing note: yeah, I was thinking about it that early)
Somewhat ironically, considering the many ways I didn't like this, I can kind of see what they were going for. Especially as a season premier this episode was set up to (pardon the pun) make a splash. It's big and as cinematic as they can make it; it gets the heroes out there on the front lines after so much of s3 didn't have them there. It was in some ways a showcase to show that they could do this.
And it mostly convinced me that they in fact can't do this. Animation wise, they're almost there. I can see the talent, but the budget looks stretched to make it work. It ends up making me worried that they pumped so much into this that we're going to see them cutting corners at some point later in the season. Not that I'd be against a nice bottle episode, in fact if they actually gave us one, it would have to be good in ways this episode is not. But because they struggle so much with what I want this show to be, I don't believe they'd actually do the good that can be done with a bottle episode; they would do something else cost-saving and it will just end up being an uglier version of a normal episode.
Because this episode is dumb. It's all action, very little dialog, no character work, no world-building to speak of, and borderline character assassination of Yoda and Mace (at least it would be if it wasn't fully in keeping with the rest of their rather terrible presentation). Nobody actually thinks about anything, it's just mindless battling; it's a game of Risk and whoever happens to roll better will end up winning, there's nothing set up to tip the scales.
While this episode definitely paints the Separatists as the bad guys, including in lazy shorthand by having the villain be a big scary shark, I don't think the Republic looks any better. This is a clear Prime Directive violation, at least it is until the Separatists get actively involved; and then there would be plenty of room for political debate over how the Republic should react to what started as an internal dispute. And the Republic are siding with hereditary monarchy over the will of the people of the planet; bigoted choice on both sides though it seems to be.
I think this is trying to recapture some of the battle feel of the Point Rain arc, and while I got tired of the fighting there, I did see those as decent to good episodes. This is just bad; so it's got a really high mark to hit in the next ep/s just to break even. And after 3+ seasons, I just don't expect that they will.
Look show, would it kill you to make Anakin's near-death experience a touch ironic; like how much future pain might not have happened if he'd died unceremoniously in this minor battle of the Clone Wars. You can't get too much mileage trying to make us think he will die, but that doesn't mean you can't make him being in certain dangerous situations mean something. Show him as ruthless in battle, or do more than a veiled implication that he was being motivated by trying to keep Padme safe more than what was best for the flow of the battle itself. There are ways to do it, you've *done* them before, including in the Point Rain arc. Why is this episode so terrible at it?
I'm writing this during the WandaVision season, so this is fresh for me on writing more than it will be at posting. But I spend a lot of time in those reviews pointing out how the show expects us to care about certain characters only on familiarity and implication and not based on action, relatablity, or development. And there's something similar at work here. They don't do anything with the Mon Calamari or anyone else as a culture; we're just supposed to care about them because Akbar is there and we should like Akbar. But Akbar is not a character, he was barely a character in the movies, became more of one in the books, and has mostly been a meme for a while (clearly, as they make sure to reference it here). They could have done something with him here; shown us the culture that's under attack, shown us why we should care about him and them. But they don't. The Prince has the bare minimum of characterization, and he has the most of anyone.
I need this show to be better. It has its moments, just barely often enough to keep me from throwing in the towel only because I'm also reviewing it. On my own I would definitely consider just marathoning a bunch of it, to say that I did watch it, even if there would be a lot I didn't pay attention to. And if I was watching this once a week with season breaks, I would have walked away a long time ago, because it is definitely not worth that kind of investment. I wish I liked it more, but I'm running out of hope for it.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 4x02: “Gungan Attack”
Well...I was marginally less bored by that one compared to the last. Or at least I was for the first half or so, then they started fighting again and it was worse because at least last ep it was pretty to look at sometimes, this was junky and murky.
I'm starting to think this show is really just betraying why I outgrew cartoons at a fairly young age. This is probably better than a lot of stuff that was on in the 80-90s, and I still don't like it. I long thought Avatar was a sign that had I been born a decade or so later I would have found more to like in cartoons, but this is just falling back into what I didn't care about as a kid. WatX was something of a weird situation, because I remember there was a point when I liked it, so I assumed it was just doing the analysis that was highlighting the flaws. And maybe that is part of the problem here, but where I felt like WatX was being torn apart by trying to be both an older school kids cartoon and incorporate a grander storyline and ideas. This is a different vibe; because while I see lots of ways this could be better, it's more like it's choosing not to be those things. If WatX was succeeding at just being what it was but failing at being anything more; this feels like it's succeeding at what it is and not trying to be anything more. Except I do sort of feel like it wants us to think it is; but it doesn't actually do more, it just wants to Jedi mind trick us into thinking it is.
I know a lot of people do get a lot out of this show, but I don't see it. I'm not saying I'm smarter of more discerning than people who are able to get more out of it (again, I'm fine with trash TV if it happens to suit my tastes), but this doesn't seem to hit any of my buttons.
The first half of this episode wasn't much better plot-wise, but did have a better sense of dread and doom to it. Of course it also made it abundantly clear that the Separatists are just Stupid Evil and obviously the other guys are going to pull out of this alliance at any point because oh right evil. And to be fair, I often wish the show would show us what sets the Republic and the Separatists apart, and being Stupid Evil might do it, but then there's nothing left to make sense of since the whole scenario falls apart. And yes, I realize the flaw in putting forth the argument that if the Separatists are this dumb, how did the Republic not outmatch them at every turn; it can make sense that Palpatine playing both sides found ways to make it last long enough to wear people down. But more than three seasons into this now, I still don't know what the war is actually about and am pretty sure none of the characters could explain it either.
Also, I've joked before about Jar Jar being a character who has no skill points, no abilities, no value, except a super high luck score that just make things go his way as needed. And that is super strong here; he doesn't actually do anything to convince the Gungans to agree to go to war, he just says that they should and suddenly they agree. Honestly, at this point I kind of buy the old theory that Jar Jar is somehow the ultimate evil out there and the idiot persona is just a cover. Certainly if you told me he had massive but somehow undetected Force powers, that seems reasonable with how the show uses him. It doesn't make him likable or interesting since I'm sure they aren't doing that, but it's something to distract me from how much I hate it when he shows up.
But the main problem is that, again, I can see ways to have made this same story interesting, but it's not, not in the slightest little bit. Show Ashoka and the Prince bonding. Bam. Make that your through-line, about things she can learn from him and things he can learn from her, and have them both come away the better for it. They're about the same age and one is trying to be a good ruler while the other is a quite experienced soldier, write them as equals who can both learn from and teach to each other. So that it means something as they keep running into events together. Maybe they've found the other annoying up until now, but now they're the only hope left and they have to work together. Maybe her trying to help him find his own strength apart for the apparent cultural expectation to be a warrior could lead somewhere; maybe that reconnects her with the fact that the Jedi are not soldiers. This isn't a hard shift, but the writing keeps choosing not to do anything that goes beyond surface level and action.
Also, I'm done with Anakin. Not because he's annoying; but because he isn't. Anakin should be making mistakes because of Padme. We should be seeing why the Jedi aren't supposed to have relationships; show us how they can be dangerous and lead someone astray. Anakin should be dealing (and not dealing) with having non-Jedi-approved emotions. Instead it's just, sure, fine, whatever. Even Anakin Skywalker is boring on this show. At least in the movies he can be a petulant whiny creep, and at least that's something. This is bad.
At this point I think we're about one more bad arc away from me throwing in the towel. So the next arc had better be a lot better (and finish this one sooner rather than later).
Well, that was not good. Incredibly boring and highlighted yet another problem with this show. All around, not a good outing.
I actually had thought, that since I struggled with this show, maybe I could find some more interest by coming at it from a different angle. Maybe skip forward and watch a season of Mandalorian, that might give me some more perspective on whether it's the world, or the storytelling, or if it's my bias against animation that gets in the way. It may also be the prequel nature of the story that doesn't work for me; both in terms of being part of the Star Wars Prequel Era, and it being a prequel to where the era has to end up. But clearly, I didn't do that for this season break, maybe later.
(editing note: yeah, I was thinking about it that early)
Somewhat ironically, considering the many ways I didn't like this, I can kind of see what they were going for. Especially as a season premier this episode was set up to (pardon the pun) make a splash. It's big and as cinematic as they can make it; it gets the heroes out there on the front lines after so much of s3 didn't have them there. It was in some ways a showcase to show that they could do this.
And it mostly convinced me that they in fact can't do this. Animation wise, they're almost there. I can see the talent, but the budget looks stretched to make it work. It ends up making me worried that they pumped so much into this that we're going to see them cutting corners at some point later in the season. Not that I'd be against a nice bottle episode, in fact if they actually gave us one, it would have to be good in ways this episode is not. But because they struggle so much with what I want this show to be, I don't believe they'd actually do the good that can be done with a bottle episode; they would do something else cost-saving and it will just end up being an uglier version of a normal episode.
Because this episode is dumb. It's all action, very little dialog, no character work, no world-building to speak of, and borderline character assassination of Yoda and Mace (at least it would be if it wasn't fully in keeping with the rest of their rather terrible presentation). Nobody actually thinks about anything, it's just mindless battling; it's a game of Risk and whoever happens to roll better will end up winning, there's nothing set up to tip the scales.
While this episode definitely paints the Separatists as the bad guys, including in lazy shorthand by having the villain be a big scary shark, I don't think the Republic looks any better. This is a clear Prime Directive violation, at least it is until the Separatists get actively involved; and then there would be plenty of room for political debate over how the Republic should react to what started as an internal dispute. And the Republic are siding with hereditary monarchy over the will of the people of the planet; bigoted choice on both sides though it seems to be.
I think this is trying to recapture some of the battle feel of the Point Rain arc, and while I got tired of the fighting there, I did see those as decent to good episodes. This is just bad; so it's got a really high mark to hit in the next ep/s just to break even. And after 3+ seasons, I just don't expect that they will.
Look show, would it kill you to make Anakin's near-death experience a touch ironic; like how much future pain might not have happened if he'd died unceremoniously in this minor battle of the Clone Wars. You can't get too much mileage trying to make us think he will die, but that doesn't mean you can't make him being in certain dangerous situations mean something. Show him as ruthless in battle, or do more than a veiled implication that he was being motivated by trying to keep Padme safe more than what was best for the flow of the battle itself. There are ways to do it, you've *done* them before, including in the Point Rain arc. Why is this episode so terrible at it?
I'm writing this during the WandaVision season, so this is fresh for me on writing more than it will be at posting. But I spend a lot of time in those reviews pointing out how the show expects us to care about certain characters only on familiarity and implication and not based on action, relatablity, or development. And there's something similar at work here. They don't do anything with the Mon Calamari or anyone else as a culture; we're just supposed to care about them because Akbar is there and we should like Akbar. But Akbar is not a character, he was barely a character in the movies, became more of one in the books, and has mostly been a meme for a while (clearly, as they make sure to reference it here). They could have done something with him here; shown us the culture that's under attack, shown us why we should care about him and them. But they don't. The Prince has the bare minimum of characterization, and he has the most of anyone.
I need this show to be better. It has its moments, just barely often enough to keep me from throwing in the towel only because I'm also reviewing it. On my own I would definitely consider just marathoning a bunch of it, to say that I did watch it, even if there would be a lot I didn't pay attention to. And if I was watching this once a week with season breaks, I would have walked away a long time ago, because it is definitely not worth that kind of investment. I wish I liked it more, but I'm running out of hope for it.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 4x02: “Gungan Attack”
Well...I was marginally less bored by that one compared to the last. Or at least I was for the first half or so, then they started fighting again and it was worse because at least last ep it was pretty to look at sometimes, this was junky and murky.
I'm starting to think this show is really just betraying why I outgrew cartoons at a fairly young age. This is probably better than a lot of stuff that was on in the 80-90s, and I still don't like it. I long thought Avatar was a sign that had I been born a decade or so later I would have found more to like in cartoons, but this is just falling back into what I didn't care about as a kid. WatX was something of a weird situation, because I remember there was a point when I liked it, so I assumed it was just doing the analysis that was highlighting the flaws. And maybe that is part of the problem here, but where I felt like WatX was being torn apart by trying to be both an older school kids cartoon and incorporate a grander storyline and ideas. This is a different vibe; because while I see lots of ways this could be better, it's more like it's choosing not to be those things. If WatX was succeeding at just being what it was but failing at being anything more; this feels like it's succeeding at what it is and not trying to be anything more. Except I do sort of feel like it wants us to think it is; but it doesn't actually do more, it just wants to Jedi mind trick us into thinking it is.
I know a lot of people do get a lot out of this show, but I don't see it. I'm not saying I'm smarter of more discerning than people who are able to get more out of it (again, I'm fine with trash TV if it happens to suit my tastes), but this doesn't seem to hit any of my buttons.
The first half of this episode wasn't much better plot-wise, but did have a better sense of dread and doom to it. Of course it also made it abundantly clear that the Separatists are just Stupid Evil and obviously the other guys are going to pull out of this alliance at any point because oh right evil. And to be fair, I often wish the show would show us what sets the Republic and the Separatists apart, and being Stupid Evil might do it, but then there's nothing left to make sense of since the whole scenario falls apart. And yes, I realize the flaw in putting forth the argument that if the Separatists are this dumb, how did the Republic not outmatch them at every turn; it can make sense that Palpatine playing both sides found ways to make it last long enough to wear people down. But more than three seasons into this now, I still don't know what the war is actually about and am pretty sure none of the characters could explain it either.
Also, I've joked before about Jar Jar being a character who has no skill points, no abilities, no value, except a super high luck score that just make things go his way as needed. And that is super strong here; he doesn't actually do anything to convince the Gungans to agree to go to war, he just says that they should and suddenly they agree. Honestly, at this point I kind of buy the old theory that Jar Jar is somehow the ultimate evil out there and the idiot persona is just a cover. Certainly if you told me he had massive but somehow undetected Force powers, that seems reasonable with how the show uses him. It doesn't make him likable or interesting since I'm sure they aren't doing that, but it's something to distract me from how much I hate it when he shows up.
But the main problem is that, again, I can see ways to have made this same story interesting, but it's not, not in the slightest little bit. Show Ashoka and the Prince bonding. Bam. Make that your through-line, about things she can learn from him and things he can learn from her, and have them both come away the better for it. They're about the same age and one is trying to be a good ruler while the other is a quite experienced soldier, write them as equals who can both learn from and teach to each other. So that it means something as they keep running into events together. Maybe they've found the other annoying up until now, but now they're the only hope left and they have to work together. Maybe her trying to help him find his own strength apart for the apparent cultural expectation to be a warrior could lead somewhere; maybe that reconnects her with the fact that the Jedi are not soldiers. This isn't a hard shift, but the writing keeps choosing not to do anything that goes beyond surface level and action.
Also, I'm done with Anakin. Not because he's annoying; but because he isn't. Anakin should be making mistakes because of Padme. We should be seeing why the Jedi aren't supposed to have relationships; show us how they can be dangerous and lead someone astray. Anakin should be dealing (and not dealing) with having non-Jedi-approved emotions. Instead it's just, sure, fine, whatever. Even Anakin Skywalker is boring on this show. At least in the movies he can be a petulant whiny creep, and at least that's something. This is bad.
At this point I think we're about one more bad arc away from me throwing in the towel. So the next arc had better be a lot better (and finish this one sooner rather than later).
