Full Series For Discussion of Old TCW episodes...

I got the Season 4 Blu Ray at last and I decided to watch a few eps. These will be brief overviews.

First off, Umbara. I think my thoughts on this arc are similar to most peoples' thoughts on the Maul arc. I don't like the premise, I still don't, but I have to concede that otherwise they're very well put together. The only real exception was once Krell turned into a cackling, moustache-twirling villain. God that was lame.

Next is A Friend in Need. I only watched this for Death Watch. The final battle sequence kicked ass, mostly because of the score. It's used again in Eminence during the Nal Hutta battle and it totally sells the scene. The Luxsoka was strong in this one but again, I don't buy it unless they've spent an assload of time together offscreen developing this relationship. As it stands, they met once and now they're on pretend fiance terms. Blegh.

I also watched the one where the Nightsisters get wiped out, a bit too much magic (Voodoo? Really?) for my liking. And Brothers and Revenge as well. Morley wasn't that bad on second viewing but I was more in it for the last moments of Savage kicking ass on his own terms. Revenge was lame, through and through. Thankfully they did a better job with Maul in Season 5, I think probably down to the fact that Katie Lucas didn't write it.

 

I just realised I'd skipped over Corruption when I watched Season 3, thus avoiding an episode which many consider the show's worst. It is now my opportunity to rectify that mistake.

Tea time!

THIS SHOULD BE FUN

 

Running thoughts on Corruption:

• Padme's ship is too small compared to the one from AotC.
• Padme's voice actor sounds pre-pubescent in this episode for some reason
• The Duchess' speeder looks nice (are we seeing that in The Lawless?)
• Green Egyptian mummies with Japanese iced-tea, mmkay.
• The haircut of the customs offical reminds me of a German friend of mine's haircut.
• Almec and Armatran are present, with Almec as sneakily slimey as ever: nice continuity.
• EVVIILLL SCHEMES: diluted tea!
• Padme is wearing combat gear during a visit to hospital and there's children clutching their stomachs as if they're sick. Seems legit.
• Is Padme pregnant when she wears the cream outfit or what?
• So many aryan kids, it's like the Third Reich.
• Why does a school have a analysis chamber capable of detecting poisons?
• Malevolent superintendent!!!!11!1!!
• What a dreadful accent for the middle man; what is it supposed to be, British/Australian/New Zealand?
• Some of the Satine and Padme dialogue makes my ears bleed.
• The Mandalorian captain is a cool character, he should return in The Lawless.
• I continue to like the police armour.
• Why do the police speeders have flame throwers in them?

I'm shocked at just exactly how bad this episode is, and not in an unintentionally funny way like Evil Plans, just plain bad.

I'm giving this a generous 2/10.

 

DON'T DO IT!

 

Too late.

 

Made it more Star Warsy.

 

I'm watching the S3 arc about rescuing Master Piell and Tarkin. I had an a-ha moment at the beginning, when Master Plo and Obi-Wan are giving the briefing. I'm aware that its the same voice actor. Normally, I'm so focused on the story, but today stepped outside the scene. It made me chuckle to imagine JAT bouncing back and forth between the two voices. Likewise, DBB does all the clones, but Umbara really astounded me how many nearly-identical characters he voices, yet makes them distinct.

Are there any other moments, when an actor voices two characters in the same scene?

 

Watched the Ryloth trilogy recently, for the first time in years. Enjoyed it just as much as I did when it first aired. Still a little sleepy right now, though.

Storm Over Ryloth

Great show of armies in the narration. S1 really knows how to show war.

The Republic forces send Ahsoka's squadron alone to break the blockade. I give them a break because it's not an IU thing, it just shows the limited resources they had back in S1. Lucas loves to make special editions, so maybe they can go back and fill in more fighters in these S1/S2 episodes.

I love Tuuk. Immediately they show him analyzing the enemy, they walk us through his thoughts. It's just really smart to have him actually study Skywalker. Unlike other villains, Tuuk is closer to an actual character than a cartoon caricature.

It was awesome to see the Vultures kamikaze the Republic Star Destroyers. The dogfighting was pretty good. In fact, much of the episode, like the hangar shots and the pilot chatter, felt very much like the focus on space battles in the OT.

"Commander Ahsoka" ? Try Commander Tano.

I have to wonder why Tuuk's ship didn't just move out of the way when Anakin tried to ram them. I'm sure they're not very maneuverable, but they didn't even try. The explosion was nice though. Excellent break down of the ship.

The bombing run at the end was just awesome, more pretty destruction.

I love these early space battle episodes, it's as close to a Rogue Squadron cartoon as we'll probably ever get.

They made a point of showing Tuuk attempt to escape, but he hasn't appeared since. That's too bad, I really liked him.

9/10

Innocents of Ryloth

The tactical droid's voice is so cool in this episode. Having the tac droid use living shields was an excellent choice, suitably cold and ruthless.

Tambor's VA is so poor.

I caught an interesting moment when Kenobi says they're not there to destroy Ryloth, then turns and makes a point to call out Cody, implying that cold Cody would rather just nuke the place.

Boil refers to Twi'leks as "tail-heads", a moment similar to their cold attitude in the Battlefront II campaign.

The droids actually show reasonable competence in putting down fire on the advancing clones. They don't come off as total **** for being defeated by the power of the Force.

Hey, probe droid. I like it.

The tactical droid is very familiar with Kenobi, I just love that. It's so simple yet so effective to make actual use of military intelligence.

The clones insisting on rescuing Numa was......disagreeable. I won't say much more than that, I'm trying to ignore it.

Hey, the tactical droid actually has a plan, that's refreshing. Him quoting the odds as 742:1 and saying "I am a droid. I am always right." was awesome.

Kenobi using "beast control" was great.

I let out a little "ha" when Cody handed Kenobi his lightsaber.

The sentiment and the attempts at cuteness use to sicken me, and still does to a small extent, but I'm begrudgingly trying to let it go.

The tactical droid's robotic "Ha ha ha" was actually pretty funny. But for some reason he says "You lose" with his cannon pointed at Kenobi instead of just shooting him. Gah.

Repeating "does not compute" a million times as he's torn apart was a fitting end.

Oh, I liked that they made the Twi'leks speak their own language instead of Basic. 8/10

Liberty on Ryloth

Again, there was a great war build up in the narration. It's so good to see Mace featured. Shatterpoint!

Okay, I was kinda amazed at this, but the droids destroyed the lead tank of a column, then targeted the rear tank to box them in. They specifically mentioned this. That's like, brilliant. That's long been a standard tactic for destroying a column of tanks and has been highly effective on countless occasions. It's something I've heard war veterans mention doing in WW2, Korea and both wars in Iraq. So, it's awesome that the B1 battle droids know this.

Mace leads the attack with a squad of AT-RTs, the droid in command sees them and actually tries to stop them. Unfortunately, that simple rare display of competence is ruined by the command droid standing there debating surrender with his buddy until they get shot. At least the rest of the group kept firing.

Tambor's VA is so bad. It sounds nothing like the movie. I can do a better impression without any modulation.

They mentioned that the Twi'leks were unarmed and surrendered, but the CIS slaughtered them with tanks anyway. Damn, that's dark. Right after that the droid starfighters just firebomb a village.

It's always an interesting to show the obese Twi'lek Senator Orn Free Taa in comparison to his starving, skin and bone people. Some of those kids looked like Holocaust survivors.

Mace body slamming the B1 was awesome. I found myself hoping that he would karate chop one of them.

The commando droid hurling a B1 at the clones was awesome. They were cool, but ultimately didn't really put up much of a fight. It was all flash with no effectiveness.

The tactical droid sticking to Dooku's orders, pointing out they had a schedule to keep and then just leaving Tambor was hilarious. It's a great example of a droid's unyielding loyalty to orders. I just love that stuff. 8/10

So that's 25/30 as an arc, an 8.33 average. That's pretty damn good.

 

I miss the Season 1 days.

 

DBB's performance in Umbara is masterful. Corey Burton voiced Dooku and Cad Bane on screen together in "The Box".

 

Corey Burton! I checked the wook to see who else he voiced, and he's had plenty of scenes with multiple characters to voice. Good gravy!
"Corey Burton as Count Dooku, Cad Bane, Ziro the Hutt, Mar Tuuk, Shahan Alama, TX-20 (Innocents of Ryloth), Senator Kharrus, Gobi Glie, Nilim Bril, Aramis, Deputy Minister Jerec, Tiggs Leo, ChairmanPapanoida, Sib Canay, Dr. Zaz, Siddiq, HELIOS-3E, J0-N0, Nix Card, Chata Hyoki, Ky Narec,Halsey, Nossor Ri, Rish Loo, Governor Roshti, Battle Droid 513, Bec Lawise, Sixtat, Loubo, Oruba the Hutt, Ziton Moj, Armatan, Senate Commando, Analyzer droid, Pirate Guard #1, Warrior #1,Mandalorian Bomber, protocol droid, Pirate, Minister of the Interior, Senate Guard #1, engineer, driver,Nightbrother #1, Mon Cala Soldier #3, Gungan Soldier #1, Togruta, Zygerrian Guard, Zygerrian Guard #1,Medical Droid, Karkarodon Thug, Citizen, Rebel, Death Watch Guard"

Robin Atkin Downes voiced Cham Syndulla and Ima-Gun Di, and JTT did Osi Sobeck and Obi-Wan. Interesting!

 

Yeah, Corey Burton is the man. Him and Jim Cumming are amazing in their flexibility.

 

anakinfansince1983 I'm surprised you gave both Dooku Captured and The Gungan General such high ratings, those are some of the lowest points of S1 IMO. Those episodes are a big reason why I don't get S1 nostalgia.

 

Someone else who liked this one, too!

 

I enjoy "Dooku Captured" but the storyline is completely ruined by the second part being one of the worst episodes of the entire show. There's only so many times you can watch Jar Jar accidentally defeat entire squads of tanks, and take down bases.

Jar Jar got better with time, ala "Supply Lines" and the Mon Cala arc. In season 1, he destroyed every episode he appeared in.

I don't get the S1 nostalgia either though. It's a good season overall, and it was the beginning to a good show, but I feel it's the weakest of the five seasons.

 

I would have agreed that S1 is the weakest till now. Especially since it will be two episodes short, I'm thinking S5 might steal that title away. At least when S1 made bad choices they weren't stretched out over 4 episodes.

 

Notice Ahmed Best wasn't cast for season 1??? Big difference. I haaaaaaaaaate how Jar Jar ruined that duology. It really detracts from the more serious aspect of Dooku, Anakin, Obi-Wan's forced-truce.

 

S5 is the second weakest.

I do enjoy the more serialised nature of TCW now. I can't blame the 4-episode story format for Gascon - Filoni should have recognised there just wasn't enough there to fill 2 episodes, never mind 4.

Onderon, Younglings and the Shadow Conspiracy arcs are really enjoyable as 88-minute "mini-movies", and hit a quality that Season 1 just doesn't reach when at it's best.

 

Oh yeah. I actually appreciate Ahmed Best's VA for Jar Jar now, as opposed to just coming off Episode I. It's unbelievable how much worse BJ Hughes made the character by just really screwing up his voice.

 

Malastare has had so many senators.

 

I found Jar Jar was most tolerable in the Water arc. Honestly I didn't care much about what him and Bail were doing in "Supply Lines". I Just wanted to watch what was going on with Di and Keeli. I can rewind and replay Keeli getting faceplanted by a grenade and getting back up all day. Such a badass. Maybe Dave will say he's actually alive next. <<;

 

I give it a 7 because I actually laughed at Jar Jar, something I previously thought was impossible for me to do. I've always been a fan of Bail. Love seeing him in TCW.

I wish we'd got a better look at Master Di and Keeli, before their fall. Their death sequence was really well done considering we hardly knew them.