Clone Wars Season Five Disappointment

Is anyone else disappointed with the season so far?

Don't get me wrong, I think it's good, but it's not what I was expecting.

After the first episode with Darth Maul, I thought that's what the rest of the season would be like, like in the trailers, maybe someone from the "Who will fall?" poster dying every few episodes.

But no, this season hasn't been like the trailers, not the whole season, no sign of Darth Maul and Savage vs Palpatine, no sign of Anakin beating up Clovis in front of Padme, no sign of the Darth Watch or the Black Sun, no sign of Asajj Ventress, no sign of the Republic Commando, and the only person on the "Who will fall?" poster to have died so far is Adi Gallia?

It's just been one long story arch after another, first Onderon, then Younglings and now Droids . . .

These episodes are good, but this isn't the exciting stories we saw in the trailers. So far Season 4 was better than this, especially with that Krell arch, the story of Ahsoka and Lux with Death Watch, Return of Darth Maul, and another light on the interesting adventures of Jar Jar Binks stepping it up in being a Gungan hero against Grievous.

 

Welcome to LACWAC! This was a great idea for a thread, btw.

I haven't seen any of the trailers, but I think this season is off to a better start than S3, which imo didn't have a really good episode until episode 12.

 

None of the seasons have been mind blowing for me. Overall I like the show, but I don't think Lucas and Filoni are nearly as ambitious with the show as they could be and they get side tracked with some really terrible stories. There's no reason to resort to blatant "homages" and show no originality. And in the Star Wars universe of infinite possible story lines. There is no excuse for an episode like Corruption to have ever seen the light of day. You get established writers in a room to bounce ideas off of Lucas, and they come up with that?!

Some people say that they wouldn't want to see droids vs. clones every episode, and I would actually agree there. But when in doubt, and failing to come up with a better idea, it's something that they could reliably fall back on rather than ideas like Nomad Droids, Corruption, and Evil Plans. Every show has its ups and downs, and I figured at worst maybe TCW would drop the ball here and there with a boring planet, or an uninteresting battle. But when they do drop the ball, I'm left wondering "how the hell did that happen?" How do writers with previous experiences on successful television shows get together with George Lucas and not realize that Onderon is a turd unworthy of four episodes? Not one person realized that they were contradicting Heroes on Both?

S5 is nothing mind blowing for me. Every season so far has had episodes I liked and those I've downright despised. S5 has been OK. But I hate that every episode aside from the premiere seems like it's going to be a 4-parter. I was done with Onderon after the second episode, but was stuck there for another two weeks. And these droid episodes have been downright painful for me to watch from the beginning, and yet I'm stuck with two more adventures of R2, his uninteresting counterparts, Jar Jar in droid form, and a crotchety/broken record slug man.

If it weren't for the clone commando showing up and possibly redeeming the last two episodes of the arc, I would consider not even watching them at this point (and that would be the first time I've skipped a TCW episode).

 

The season clearly has a lot of good stuff in store for us: they're just keeping us waiting for the really good stuff. As usual. Which is fine.

As far as what we've seen so far is concerned, I really enjoyed the opening episode and the Onderon and Young Jedi arcs.

That said I'm not particularly looking forward to 3 more episodes with Gascon and D-Squad. I am keeping an open mind though as I did quite enjoy last season's droids episodes (I know they weren't everyone's favourites).

I guess the biggest problem with 4-episode arcs is that they're putting a lot of eggs in only a few baskets per season. If you don't like the premise or story of one arc, that's a large chunk of the season that's not doing it for you...

But so far, for me, the majority of this season has been really good. Just bring on the Death Watch already

 

Until you mentioned Darth Maul at the start, I actually completely forgot that he was in this season.
Yeah, I was expecting more action, more meaningful events that impact the overall story of the war not this...tiny frog colonel and void planets and such crap.
For me personally, the quality of episodes has been on a steady decline since it began... it has it's moments but some are really, really dumb and unnecessary...that circus routine...this whole droids thing...the frog colonel...
Hopefully the second part of the season gives us some better stuff.

 

Overall the quality of the episodes have been pretty good, but the stories are so uninspiring. None of the plotlines this season have needed four episodes, and the stories get so stretched out I get burned out on them. Also the closer we get to ROTS the more intense the series should get IMHO, but this first half feels like its threading water, duckpaddeling at that. The last three arcs in the second half looks like they are going to deliver the goods, but that should have been the case with the first half as well, and my god was this an unmemorable first half. The only episode worth rewatching was Revival.

 

Welcome to LACWAC!

I would have to say that this is a pretty solid season for me so far to be honest, but not a groundbreaking one. I expect the groundbreaking to be accomplished in the second half. I liked the opening, the Onderon arc was decent but could have been three episodes, I found the Young Jedi arc to be great and one of the series' strongest, and then the first episode of the droid arc was beyond rubbish to me. Except for the most recent travesty, every other episode I find incredibly watchable, especially Young Jedi. Compared to Season 4 up to this point, I am enjoying Season 5 more, even though Season 5's Umbara won't appear until the second half.

 

I think you nailed it right there. Setting expectations - high or low - can be a double-edged sword if the actual episodes exceed or fail to meet whatever expectations have been set.

Take the Young Jedi arc. My expectations for it were low, but it far, far exceeded them - and is now amongst my most favorite arcs.
The season 5 trailer contained not a single moment of the Young Jedi arc which caused me to have no expectations of the arc other than the few details we got about it before it aired. And those details (circus younglings) caused me to have low expectations. Yet the episodes were so well done that they exceeded the low expectations.

Instead, the season 5 trailer showed some of the more action oriented and (typically) stronger episodes that usually are shown at the end of the season. Filoni decided to allow all the footage of the entire season as fair game for a trailer and of course those people creating the trailer are going to use the best stuff.
In other words, they set high expectations by using some of the better episodes that you're most looking forward to. And that is why it has not been what you've been expecting.

 

I loving this season. It has been a lot more fun than Season Four and has had less "season-killing" episodes like Evil Plans, Corruption, Shadow Warrior or Nomad Droids.

 

Revival- fantastically great
A War on Two Fronts- eh okay
Front Runners- so so
The Soft War- It was okay...
Tipping Points... Wow!
The Gathering- Now we're getting on track!
A Test of Strength- Pure Awesome
Bound for Rescue- That was too cool
A Necessary Bond- Words can't describe
Secret Weapons- Interestingly funny
A Sunny Day in the Void- A classic
Don't see any disappointment, and with the Clovis arc and Maul arc ahead, woah!

 

I loved every single episode in Season Four (yes, even Shadow Warrior and the two droids episodes) but Onderon was a new low point for me in a show that had been on a roll beforehand. Fortunately the last episode was redeemable and then Young Jedi was beyond amazing, but this current droids arc is the kind of thing that you go "why the heck am I watching this" halfway through an episode. Let's just hope the upcoming Maul arc doesn't turn out to be a flop.

 

Revival- genius
A War on Two Fronts - meh
Front Runners- ok
The Soft War- good
Tipping Points... Wow! Gunships Awesomeness!
The Gathering- Now we're getting on track!
A Test of Strength- Pure Awesome
Bound for Rescue- That was too cool
A Necessary Bond- Words can't describe
Secret Weapons- Simple and yet interestingly funny
A Sunny Day in the Void- A classic and fun concept


I AM REALLY HAPPY WITH THEM ODDS!

Really!? You said to yourself during the droids arc "why the heck am I watching this"!?
But you loved the abominations Shadow Warrior and Nomad Droids... hmmmm...
During those two S4 episode and even the Hardeen arc my fandom cried on the inside!

 

Going with the trend here...

Revival-Well done! (9)
A War on Two Fronts-Great beginning! (9)
Front Runners-Average, not bad, but average (7)
The Soft War-Getting back on the right track! (9)
Tipping Points-Fantastic! (10)
The Gathering-Mystical and brilliant! (10)
A Test of Strength-Huyang! (10)
Bound for Rescue-Space battle and circle somehow awesomely works! (10)
A Necessary Bond-Brilliant ending to the arc! (10)
Secret Weapons-Horrifyingly simple. (3)
A Sunny Day in the Void-Intriguing. (7)

Gregor, Clovis/Padmé/Anakin, Eta-2s, Cato Neimoidia, Battle/Invasion of Scipio, Black Sun, Mauldalore, Anti-Jedi/Anti-Clone/Anti-War Protests, Jedi Temple attack, Ventress versus(?) Ahsoka/That incredible moment we've been so teased about? The second half of the season looks to be even more of a blast! Cannot wait 2013!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

It hasn't been spectacular so far, but Clone Wars seasons always start slow, and build to a crescendo towards the end.

Besides, it hasn't been that bad. Up and down, but there's really only been one big misfire. The rest of the season promises to pick up speed substantially.

 

Before this turns into another damn lists thread, I'll throw my hat in. This season has surpassed Season 3 as having the worst lineup of episodes I have ever seen.

 

Revival - Totally worth the hype! (10)
A War on Two Fronts - Good start... (8)
Front Runners - Not bad... (8)
The Soft War - Better... (8)
Tipping Points - Filoni, you sadist! You killed Steela! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!! [I kid, I kid] (8)
The Gathering - Beautiful. (9)
A Test of Strength - A step down, but still good. (8)
Bound for Rescue - I'M FLYINGGGGG!!!! (8)
A Necessary Bond - Nice ending. (8)
Secret Weapons - Original and very well done. (7)
A Sunny Day in the Void - Wow, it didn't suck! (8)

Still better than the early and weaker episodes of Seasons 3 and 4.

 

Revival- 10
A War on Two Fronts- 7
Front Runners-7
The Soft War- 8
Tipping Points-10
The Gathering- SHOCKER ITS A MIRACLE IT DID NOT SUCK - 10
A Test of Strength - ARC still going great good- 9
Bound for Rescue- 10
A Neccessary Bond- 10
Secret Weapons- 8
A Sunn Day in the Void- 8

Clovis, Gregor, Thorn, Sidous, Mauldalore, Ventress this Season cant get any better.

 

That's pretty close to how I'd rank them, with the exception of "A Sunny Day in the Void" since I have yet to watch it. (I probably shouldn't vote in the episode rating threads till the end of the season. )

Revival started us off strong. I personally think it was the best opener since Ambush. The Young Jedi arc was one of the best arcs we've had in a long time IMO. So far I'd say Season 5 is much stronger than Season's 3-4.

 

Revival- 12 (Is is possible to give a score this high?)
A War on Two Fronts- 6
Front Runners-7
The Soft War- 9
Tipping Points-9
The Gathering- 8
A Test of Strength - 8
Bound for Rescue- 9
A Neccessary Bond- 10
Secret Weapons- 5
A Sunn Day in the Void- 2

My opinions been up and down this season

 

This season has been more solid than the last couple and holds more promise for interesting developments with characters.

The first couple seasons were very entertaining for there time and pretty consistent save for a few missteps. Looking back now though they don't hold a candle to what we are getting with plot, character, animation, and concepts in Season 5.

 

This. IMO, Season 5 has been very weak so far.

 

I liked Revival and the first of the Young Jedi arc, since it had Yoda, Ilum and that whole Jedi training thing going for it.

But everything else..

 

I have to admit I loved the Young Jedi arc. Loved it.

If I saw that when I was seven, I would have karate chopped my couch in half.

 

The Young Jedi arc was brilliant! I only wish I was like ten years younger though. My excitement would have been boundless! The arc I felt was so fantastic because it adopted the formula that has worked so well for them in these types of stories - an arc whose episodes connect but nevertheless have the ability to stand by themselves.