Full Series Discuss/Regrade the Episode: S03E05: Corruption

Episode 3.5!! Corruption
Solve your problems with fire.



"The challenge of hope is to overcome corruption."


Padmé, on a diplomatic mission to Mandalore, guarantees the pacifist planet the Republic's full protection, but she and Duchess Satine soon find something sinister lurking beneath the planet's serene facade. Moogan smugglers have been sneaking in supplies, including bottled tea destined for the Mandalorian schools. To increase their profits, they have been diluting the tea with a hazardous chemical.

http://starwars.com/explore/the-clone-wars/ep305/#!/about

Now that you've rewatch the episode lets regrade it. Feel free to discuss as much as you like​

 

Corruption

+Padme in action
+Almec
+VA job as a whole
+Snake Egyptian creatures & Goat creatures

-Plot was alright but for star wars it was bad
-Mandalorian Guards... Terrible design, having no guns, and being able to deflect blaster bolts with their shields and spears

Overall 6/10... decent episode...

 

Another episode I don't remember.

 

This episode.... aaaahhhhgggghhhhhhh... oh my god, how painful of a waste of time. I mean given that the series is over and that Mandalore was wasted on such dumb episodes - that is beyond me.

One thing I will give this episode... having dealth with the vile customs officials, I know now what it was trying to teach us - custom officials are the lowest form of scum in any galaxy. Thank you, TCW!

Only plus: The moogans looked interesting, but were lost among a ton of pointless new "characters". Here we had over a dozen of useless characters that Filoni and crew decided are worth wasting money, but Tikkes was too big of a problem to be created in his arc. AAAAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

What an awful smell you've discovered. This episode has been rotting in the back of the fridge since it first aired. A second viewing does it no favors. 3/10

 

I like how the Season Three Mandalore duology would eventually tie into the Shadow Collective arc, but that doesn't excuse the fact that they were terrible episodes. 1/10, most boring, anticlimatic episode I've ever watched on the show.

Until A Sunny Day in the Void, that is.

 

I never thought it was that bad. I actually enjoyed the plot about the corruption and the smuggling of the poisonous drink dilutant; it's not the most ideal idea for an TCW episode but I enjoyed it. It had some good moments with Satine and Padme, I liked the design of the snake-like Moogans (and their wierd beetle ship) and the little battle at the warehouse was nice for what it was. Definitely not a great episode but entertaining nevertheless.

7/10

 

I enjoyed the episode, Satine is always fun to watch

 

Ah yes, Corruption. Such an apt name for such a putrid episode. Sigh. I normally come into episodes with little to no expectations, but the way the plot and the characters were handled here makes me want to literally shake my head. First off, the entire premise of this episode felt pretty off. Poisoned tea in schools? Could they not have decided on a more interesting plotline regarding corruption in the government? Not to mention how exceedingly simplistic the bribery of the customs officials appeared to be. The Moogan design was perhaps the sole saving grace of this episode.

But all of these issues could have been forgiven if the plot and the characterization were any good. Unfortunately, while I like the Duchess Satine as a character, I found her exceedingly OOC in this episode, particularly at the end. Burn down the warehouse? Shouldn't you keep the evidence first as a means of convicting the perpetrators? Some common sense would have been welcome here. Padme's role seemed rather insignificant as well, almost like she was shoehorned in so they could emphasize the political nature of this episode. The Idiot Ball was quite strong in this one. This episode showed how not to do a political episode in TCW.

Overall gave this episode a 2/10, and overall the low point of Season 3, along with Sphere of Influence and Pursuit of Peace. In fact this is the second worst episode in the entire series for me.

 

"BURN THE EVIDENCE, CAPTAIN. BURN IT, OR I'LL CONSIDER YOU A MEMBER OF THIS CONSPIRACY!!!"

--Duchess Satine Kryze, in one of her no-so level-headed moments.

EDIT: Does this confirm that Satine herself was part of the conspiracy?

 

Well, I don't know about everyone else, but when I think "Star Wars" the first thing I think of is corruption in school lunch programs...

It was an ok episode. I did like Padme and Satine working together. it could've been great. It's just unfortunate that what they were working together on was one of the weaker plots of the series.

Also was mildly amused how, during a crisis, Padme seemed to have enough time to change clothes every single time the scene changed. Maybe the art dept wanted to show off.

It hasn't aged well with time, though. We'll go 5/10.

 

reminds me of the school lunches at my highschool...

 

I didn't necessarily hate this episode, but it seemed a bit illogical in some aspects to me.

+Mandalore is always a treat, and I like how the neutrality is costing the people
+The corruption aspect was well-done, quite real-world like
+I liked Satine's snap with her pacifism, the strain is getting to her and it's realistic in that sense
+Satine had nice model
+I liked the concept of the children being the innocent victims in the black market trade, another sense of realism there.

-Why would you burn down warehouse? It seemed far too rash and illogical
-This episode's logic is further negated when Padmé mentions to Ahsoka in Heroes on Both Sides about Jedi having clearance to visit neutral systems; if Senators don't have that clearance, why was she there? Unless that's a chronological issue. Still, while I like Padmé, this seemed really the odd setting for the two of them
-"Do you know who I am?"; Well, he should...

7/10, primarily for the political aspects.

 

10/10 just because I feel sorry for the laid off LFL crew.

 

Let's just get this out of the way: Corruption was not this season's finest episode, not by a long shot. In truth, my first viewing of this episode was an awful time. But rewatching it now, with greater context and the vindication of knowing the events yet to come, there's something hilariously enjoyable to both Corruption and Academy.

Sundari is starving. Satine is ideologically radical, emotionally unstable, and politically ineffective. New Mandalorian society is breaking down. And it is great. You cannot be isolationalists when you live in a lifeless desert. You cannot bite the hand that feeds you, and still expect it to continue feeding you. You cannot defend your people when you are sworn not to fight. You cannot prosper on wishes, dreams, and dust.

Anyway...
Well, of course Padme is the Senator invited to Mandalore. While it makes sense in light of what Padme did for Satine in Duchess of Mandalore, it would've been an excellent opportunity to showcase a bit more variety among the political cast, instead of just "Padme does everything." They even namecheck Bail. And soon after, we're treated to showers of confetti and a cheering populous. Do these people not have jobs? Shouldn't they be trying to do something about their current predicament? And wouldn't the money that went into all of that confetti have been better allocated to something more beneficial to the people who are supposed to be in rather dire straights? Oh, but they're a "people of tradition." You could've fooled me, given how far they've turned their back on every traditional element of the Mandalorian culture. Must be something they thought up last Thursday Taungsday... Of course, if I'm being serious, they've had hundreds of years to establish their own traditions independent of the clans, but the line still felt like salt on a wound when it first aired, and I've never warmed to it. The entire situation of vast crowds showing up to applaud the arrival of a foreign dignitary is so antithetical to Mandalorians, I've yet to keep from rolling my eyes when watching that scene.

The meeting of the Ruling Council is interesting to me. Removing Almec for a moment, and viewing Satine as a Mand'alor as indicated in the Shadow Conspiracy novel, it feels almost...familiar. Like if someone put a prissy filter over the meeting of the clan chieftains from Sacrifice, this is what it may have looked like. But Satine is a poor leader beholden to bureaucracy, and unlike the fierce debate from Sacrifice, this squabbling eventually led to a legislative nothing. I enjoyed the new Sundari locations, like the hospital and school, though these bigger settings were a sad reminder that every New Mandalorian is human, white, and almost always blonde. Seeing the mass of painfully sick children did stir an interest in their welfare out of me, and I did like Satine's strong reaction to a threat that seemed aimed primarily at kids, even if the alignment with Mandalorians' traditional protectiveness of children was certainly only a happy accident.

Okay, so what didn't I like? The entire episode was utterly boring. While I thoroughly enjoyed watching New Mandalorian society beginning to implode, Satine's breaking down, and everything associated with it, the events make a far more intriguing Wookieepedia read than an actual episode, and take less time doing so. The "mystery" of the poison was terribly underwhelming, and there was hardly a sense of urgency to helping the children. -1. Dialogue was weak throughout, as was the climax. Did Padme really need to lead the charge when there are armored Royal Guardsmen there?. -2. The New Mandalorians, as a people, are incredibly irritating. I know I said they're good for a laugh, but they're like Republican hard-righters: there's only so much you can take before you stop laughing and start wanting to bludgeon people to death. And they're so removed from the culture, why do they still call themselves Mandalorian? -1.

A weak episode that's only enjoyable if you're effectively rooting for the "good guys" to lose, otherwise it would've struggled to make it on the board. 6 out of 10.

 

Just out of curiosity, why host these threads when there's already one specifically for discussing old episodes?

 

That's not how you do it, silly

 

Sry

 

That would have been an interesting twist if the show was kept alive along with Satine...

 

I was copying I remembered Barriss and Garth did it in summer 2011 with the season 1 and 2 regrade threads. I don't recall old threads getting bumped for discussion.

4/10 makes this my lowest rated episode right next to Shadow Warrior. This episode is boring, nonsensical at times, and Satine seemed like a different character. On the other hand this episode is actually a little better in hindsight since its been dragged into linear continuity with the Maul arc and can be viewed as marking the beginning of Satines' fall as she grows more and more depressed. Its still not seamless. I'll also give some points for the shoot out. It looked cool if nothing else. And that''s it for me. There are plenty WOTs in here that elaborate well enough why this episode is pretty lame.

 

1/10
IMO one of the worst episodes of the whole series, beaten only by The Academy, Evil Plans. and Sunny Day in the Void. Other than good animation and the Egyptian Snake People can't say anything positive about it.

 

3/10
This episode is one of my least favorite. Probably only surpassed by Evil Plans.

 

3/10, this episode sucks.
-Terrible plot
-Terrible characters
-Satine is way out of character
-All the voice acting is terrible, it's like they knew they were in a bad episode and made it a parody
-At least animation was nice and the shootout was well-done
-"Burn down this warehouse!" what the?????
-Moogans were cool at least

I am a huge Star Wars fan, love all 6 films, love The Clone Wars, a lot of the EU, collect figures, etc., but why was this episode made?