Full Series Grade the Episode - 411 "Kidnapped"

On a scale from 1 to 10, what score do you give this episode?

Please note this is NOT the episode discussion thread, so please limit the discussion to the grades and overall evaluation of the episode.

Grade average (30 votes): 6.9

 

4/10

A rather poor choice to immediately follow the Umbara series. See the discussion thread for the rant.

 

I gave it a 7. Pretty good episode, even with the usual Ahsoka stuff.

 

-1 silly bomb defusing
-1 shoddy handling of Anakin rage at slavers
-1 mishandling (pun intended) Obi-Wan/bad guy brawl
-1 overall half-baked plot. (most of the writing was already done! C'mon!)
+1 providing Ahsoka with the fantastic action sequences that she deserves!
7/10

 

7/10.

The bomb thing was the biggest issue for me, I didn't really have a problem with Kenobi stalling.

As I said in the general thread I think, why change what actually worked in the comic (other than not making Obi-Wan fight a Besalisk)?

It's when they make pointless changes that I get irritated.

 

8/10

Rather enjoyed it, though not as much as Umbara. Really liked seeing the glimpses of Anakin's dark side.

 

7 . I thought it was a good start to the arc and plenty entertaining. I actually enjoyed the speeder chase and also enjoyed watching Obi-wan stall Darts who IMO was actually stalling him and all the republic forces on Kiros for much of the episode. It was fun watching the villain outsmart them for a while. I actually did like the monster and watching Anakin battle it. Ahsoka didn't really bother me. The biggest drawbacks for me were the lack of effort with the bomb plot and disarming the bombs. Also in defeating the sniper droids. I'll also drop a point for lack of replay value. In the end "Kidnapped" did its job and has me excited for the remainder of the arc.

Favorite Scene: Rex called it that the Torgruta colonists were missing and also referenced the Ryloth Trilogy with the 2nd of his only two lines of dialogue in this episode.

 

I was going to say 'not going to vote on this before I've seen it again', but on second thought I'll pass on that.

Gave it a 5. Very 'meh'.

 

Funny, because I just rewatched it before grading.

When I sat down to watch this one again, I approached it with the mindset of a kid. That is, blissfully ignorant and naive of all the shortcomings that one of a higher mind can instantly recognise. I've already gone into why I don't believe there's any point whatsoever in critiquing a show like this for not being on Sopranos-level writing quality when one considers the target audience - kids. We're only here because this show has Star Wars in the name so I don't consider fans to be in any way part of this audience.

And you know what? It was a lot of fun. I certainly enjoyed it a lot more than I would ever enjoy Umbara. So I've settled on a 3. If you're thinking "well that's a bit harsh giving it a 3 when you just said it was a lot of fun", the simple answer is I don't think an episode of TCW could ever achieve a mark higher than 5/10. But I don't see much worth in giving arbitrary numeric values to episodes of a TV show anyway. Or anything for that matter unless everyone who's judging is operating under the same grading system. This isn't like examiners marking finals. With this system all that can be determined is popularity, and so help me if you think popularity is the same as quality.

 

Interesting post, NotAFanBoy.

I just watched this literally 4 times in a row, and I still can't decide between 9 and 10. My biggest problem is the professional wrestling and Mortal Kombat moves the slaver dude uses on Kenobi. But there's so much I like about this episode, I can't decide whether or not to dock it down just for that.

I used to kind of agree on the ridiculous Force-jump many have mentioned, but if you pause the episode at the very last millisecond of the camera angle on the jumping walkers BEFORE the camera changes to the angle of Anakin and Ahsoka's jumps off the walkers, the walkers look not just level but actually a little higher in the air than the spaceship, and not that far behind it either.

 

8/10

Bomb thing was quite stupid, and I'm not going to make up my mind that I can't give an episode more than a 5/10 or whatever. Enjoyable, but following Umbara was not smart scheduling.

1-3: Mon Cala
4-6: Slaves
7: Mercy
8-11: Umbara

That would have been better I feel.

 

1/10. The sniper droid was interesting... and Obi-Wan's Force crush was cool... that's about it.

 

Thanks for that tidbit. At least the math is simple. I can just double your rating to arrive at your "actual" vote, right?

5/10. It was fun, and I liked seeing Ahsoka (and Rex) in some old fashioned action scenes. Boil's cameo seemed a little wasted - it looked like a nod to Umbara, but nothing came of it. After watching Krell in the last few episodes, it was refreshing to see Anakin and Ahsoka actually helping injured troopers after the blast. I really liked how Ahsoka seemed to just be soothing the one clone - she's no medic, nor a healer, but she does what she can.

Kid-safe bombs, tension-less plot (for the viewer), and some forced dialogue knocks it down quite a few points for me, however, and even though I suspected this would happen, I was disappointed that there was no substantive reference to Umbara.

Still holding out hope for the rest of the arc.

I really liked that one, but I think Ahsoka tending to the wounded was my favorite.

 

^Anything that references an old episode in this show should get praise in my opinion. That's like two direct references in 4 seasons.

 

Agreed, but it's still interesting to see what kind of episodes turn out to be (im-)popular.

 

@PKIA and sacharias:

As I said, I don't believe in grading systems. But in order to participate in this poll I have to make up one on the spot to 'judge' this episode. It is based entirely on arbitration and so it can function however I want it to. So for example, my incredible grading system awards 52 squidoolis for every time the word 'tattybojangles' is mentioned by Captain Rex while reciting the complete list of Great Places To Live In Vanuatu, but subtracts 87 magumbos if Obi Wan complements Mel Gibson on the plumpness of his jombago fruit. Also, if Richard Pryor does the moonwalk in the background to Excision and Datsik's 8 Bit Superhero, it's an instant game over and that whole episode is rendered completely null and void.

...

Sarcasm aside, if I decide that I'm not going to give an episode of TCW a mark higher than 5/10, I can do that because I am choosing to base my marking criteria on this system I invented just now. If next week I decide I can only give an episode of TCW a 6 or above, I am well within my rights to do that as well. It doesn't matter. None of this matters, or makes sense in any way. There is no universally accepted system that we all base our marks on. All we get told to do is "grade the episode out of ten." As far as choices go, that's as arbitrary as it gets. We always pretend we're showcasing our critical expertise but what are we really doing? Picking a number out of ten according to which one 'sounds about right'. "I think this episode deserves...a 7." What does that even mean, and why does it matter that the number I've selected according to my system is different to the number someone else has selected using theirs? That's why I find all the 1/10 hate so amusing and depressing at the same time. "You can't give Carnage of Krell a 1! That's wrong!" You mean, that's wrong according to how you perceive this episode should be graded? Or wrong because you get butthurt when someone criticises something you like? Or something else entirely?

And in case you can't tell, I won't be participating in these episode polls any more.

Forgive me, but popularity means sod all in my book. If it means something to you, then great.

EDIT: I just realised my system includes a lot of (coincidental I assure you) boobs-related innuendo. I am therefore christening it the 36 Double D Scale. Feel free to use it if you wish, minimal royalty payments of 2.5% for the first three months and if you refer a friend, they go absolutely free!

 

This is a great example of varying opinions, because if this happened it's an instant win and the whole episode gets a 10 from me regardless of what else happens.

 

What if I told you it's an instant game over precisely because nothing else in the history of mankind will ever top those 3 seconds where you saw Richard Pryor moonwalk across the back of Darth Maul's secret lair?

 

I gave it a 6 because I didn't consider it a failure, yet it was basically "here's a bunch of stuff".