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tori_reviews2021-06-28 10:03 pm
jedi_of_urth) wrote in tori_reviews2021-06-28 10:03 pm
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Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 4x21- 22
I am still leaving Loki in the 'I'll probably get to it eventually' space, but I can still post something today and finish of TCW s4. As you will see from these episode (if you haven't noticed it coming) I was not feeling confident with the show when I got to this point in it, so I did take a decent break after s4. I will be back with s5, because I did restart, but it will be a somewhat different style.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 4x21: “Brothers”
Well, about 80% of this episode was just boring. And the rest wasn't much better, but at least it sort of tried to be less boring.
Savage is perhaps the only villain less interesting than Maul. They could have done something more interesting at least with the directing here if they had gone the silent warrior route, but they didn't. They could have given him his own motivation instead of just making him someone else's plaything, but they didn't. They could have made this a consequence of the death of the Witches, that Savage was going to start acting on his own; but that's not what this is.
I do not understand why TPTB in this case wanted to bring back Maul. Actually that's not quite true; because it's always been a criticism of ep1 that Lucas killed off Maul so quickly instead of letting him be a bigger figure. But I don't understand how they could get very far into this idea without realizing it's a bad one. Because they're not really bringing back Maul, Maul wasn't a character enough for them to bring back, they're bringing back an idea of Maul but they already did that by bringing in Savage.
My biggest question from this episode turns out not to be how Maul is here, because he's purely here because of plot that they will either explain (probably badly) or just hand-wave past. No, my question is when Obi-wan learned Maul's name. It hit me just before he said it that I didn't think they knew it. Maybe some of the captured Trade Federation people spilled the beans? But then what was with the question of whether they got the master or the apprentice?
I'm so uninterested that that's the kind of thing I start focusing on. That said, the flashes we get of the show's main cast are ever so slightly more interesting than the rest of the stuff.
Weirdly, the most thought provoking scene is with Anakin and Ahsoka at the diner, because I do have a bit of a preoccupation with how the galaxy treats Jedi through this series. And this seems to indicate that they are respected but also feared. And I think that's vaguely interesting.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 4x22: “Revenge”
Hmmm...
Hmmm. Hmmm...
I still didn't like this episode, but at least I dislike it in a more interesting way. It's not much and I definitely am going to need a pallet cleanser after so much of this show before I may or may not come back to it for the sake of completeness (and maybe I still want to know what people see in this show), but at least we're not going out on a boring note.
Because this episode brings back an old quibble with the show, I see what it's doing but it's completely unearned. On a show that was actually about and driven by these characters, this could be the culmination of a long arc. But it's not, because that's not this show.
I remember back in the Clone Wars movie there was a hint at a somewhat playful (verging on flirtatious) rivalry between Obi-wan and Ventriss. I complained at the time because it was one more of those things we're thrown into the middle of without really having it explained, but it basically disappeared after that. This would have been an excellent payoff to what was set up all the way back then, had it not been four seasons since it mattered. If these two rivals had spent seasons going up against each other, getting under each other's skin, until they find themselves fighting on the same side as if they always have been, because they know each other's moves and thoughts that well.
Through this whole Ventriss arc, all I've been thinking is that I think I want to go read the Thrawn trilogy and go through Mara's story. While it's not exactly the same arc by any stretch, there are similarities to what I think they think they're doing with Ventriss. But I like Mara, I don't like Ventriss.
I am mildly curious how they get out of this situation without Obi-wan arresting her. Not because I think it would be out of character for Obi-wan to drop her off and they part as frenemies, but because if they actually show that it would be actual follow-through. I predict next season won't address it, and that annoys me. Even not seeing it yet, it annoys me.
This season had a few really good highs, but it also had some real bad lows. I think part of the problem is that I'm not sure I can go on saying that I want to like the show. Obviously I would prefer to, I prefer to like things, but if after four seasons I don't have anything specific that makes me go 'do this better' but it's still just general 'why can't this show be better' I seem pretty well resigned to it not being that good in my mind.
Like I said, I need a pallet cleanser at this point. Hmm...what's another high profile show I can get into for a bit...
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 4x21: “Brothers”
Well, about 80% of this episode was just boring. And the rest wasn't much better, but at least it sort of tried to be less boring.
Savage is perhaps the only villain less interesting than Maul. They could have done something more interesting at least with the directing here if they had gone the silent warrior route, but they didn't. They could have given him his own motivation instead of just making him someone else's plaything, but they didn't. They could have made this a consequence of the death of the Witches, that Savage was going to start acting on his own; but that's not what this is.
I do not understand why TPTB in this case wanted to bring back Maul. Actually that's not quite true; because it's always been a criticism of ep1 that Lucas killed off Maul so quickly instead of letting him be a bigger figure. But I don't understand how they could get very far into this idea without realizing it's a bad one. Because they're not really bringing back Maul, Maul wasn't a character enough for them to bring back, they're bringing back an idea of Maul but they already did that by bringing in Savage.
My biggest question from this episode turns out not to be how Maul is here, because he's purely here because of plot that they will either explain (probably badly) or just hand-wave past. No, my question is when Obi-wan learned Maul's name. It hit me just before he said it that I didn't think they knew it. Maybe some of the captured Trade Federation people spilled the beans? But then what was with the question of whether they got the master or the apprentice?
I'm so uninterested that that's the kind of thing I start focusing on. That said, the flashes we get of the show's main cast are ever so slightly more interesting than the rest of the stuff.
Weirdly, the most thought provoking scene is with Anakin and Ahsoka at the diner, because I do have a bit of a preoccupation with how the galaxy treats Jedi through this series. And this seems to indicate that they are respected but also feared. And I think that's vaguely interesting.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 4x22: “Revenge”
Hmmm...
Hmmm. Hmmm...
I still didn't like this episode, but at least I dislike it in a more interesting way. It's not much and I definitely am going to need a pallet cleanser after so much of this show before I may or may not come back to it for the sake of completeness (and maybe I still want to know what people see in this show), but at least we're not going out on a boring note.
Because this episode brings back an old quibble with the show, I see what it's doing but it's completely unearned. On a show that was actually about and driven by these characters, this could be the culmination of a long arc. But it's not, because that's not this show.
I remember back in the Clone Wars movie there was a hint at a somewhat playful (verging on flirtatious) rivalry between Obi-wan and Ventriss. I complained at the time because it was one more of those things we're thrown into the middle of without really having it explained, but it basically disappeared after that. This would have been an excellent payoff to what was set up all the way back then, had it not been four seasons since it mattered. If these two rivals had spent seasons going up against each other, getting under each other's skin, until they find themselves fighting on the same side as if they always have been, because they know each other's moves and thoughts that well.
Through this whole Ventriss arc, all I've been thinking is that I think I want to go read the Thrawn trilogy and go through Mara's story. While it's not exactly the same arc by any stretch, there are similarities to what I think they think they're doing with Ventriss. But I like Mara, I don't like Ventriss.
I am mildly curious how they get out of this situation without Obi-wan arresting her. Not because I think it would be out of character for Obi-wan to drop her off and they part as frenemies, but because if they actually show that it would be actual follow-through. I predict next season won't address it, and that annoys me. Even not seeing it yet, it annoys me.
This season had a few really good highs, but it also had some real bad lows. I think part of the problem is that I'm not sure I can go on saying that I want to like the show. Obviously I would prefer to, I prefer to like things, but if after four seasons I don't have anything specific that makes me go 'do this better' but it's still just general 'why can't this show be better' I seem pretty well resigned to it not being that good in my mind.
Like I said, I need a pallet cleanser at this point. Hmm...what's another high profile show I can get into for a bit...