Full Series Grade the Episode: S05E19: To Catch a Jedi

You guys know the drill.

Poll results are available by clicking on the number of votes next to each score.

That being said, we'd still prefer you to post with your score and what you liked and disliked

 

I'll be honest, I can't grade this on it's own. I need to see it in the context of the entire arc after I've watched the finale.

 

10/10 cool episode

 

Detailed reasoning, and brilliant analysis, with comparisons to film noir. Would read again.

 

Thank you ( i know it's sarcasm )

 

10/10

+Ventress
+Amazing animation as usual
+Nice to see the underworld
+Elevator scene was cool
+Ahsoka+Ventress team up
+Fight at the end was very good, matching up to the quality of the one seen in "The Lawless"
+The attacker, won't say the name here, looked awesome with that cape over that mask, looked like a sith
+Obi wan defends Anakin

- The mouths of the tooka's are a tad large. I would prefer if TCW pursued the more realistic Star Wars feel they've been gunning for recently.
- the council is filled with morons, but this is all part of the plot... I guess. They paid for it in ROTS.
- Ahsoka's last line to Ventress was a little weak, or so I thought...

Can't really think of a whole lot of bad things...

 

9/10 from me....

+Awesome council scene at the beginning, I agree with Spaz - Can't believe how dumb they are. However this better explains why Anakin betrayed them in ROTS. Defiantly helped the movies....
+Seeing Ventress again plus Ahsoka + Ventress team up
+Plo
+Underworld looked awesome
+Great Duel
+Being more confused than when the episode started... Meaning I thought there would be more resolve on the situation while its only gotten more complex
+New cute cat creature!!

-New police Models.... I liked the Blue droids better
-A bit slow until the very end, not much happened

Overall this was an awesome episode. Jedi who Knew too much was FARRR better though. This one was still awesome, can't wait till next week!

 

This episode was weaker than last week's - it was never as ominous as in Tarkin's scenes or at the Republic prison, and it was never as adrenaline-fueled as Ahsoka's chase scene. That said, Ahsoka on the run was a cool concept that was great to see in this storyline.

Of course we got to see Asajj again for the first time since last season's finale. She maintains her edge but has clearly come a long way since the first season. Apparently, being a bounty hunter is more morally acceptable than being a Sith (or Dark Acolyte depending on your point of view). Her line upon disarming the clone troopers, "It's the new me." was delivered brilliantly.

On the truce between Ahsoka and Asajj: I liked that Ahsoka jumped to the conclusion that Asajj was behind the plot, and had framed her. Many users on this very forum had suspected Ventress as the culprit, and it made sense for Ahsoka to accuse her of that. The alliance was a good concept, but I feel it developed a little too quickly and it felt a little weird considering the last time Ahsoka and Asajj actually met was in the ninth episode of the first season. We've not exactly seen these two being rivals.

Levels 1312, 1313 and 1315? Not subtle. Aside from that amazing coincidence, it was enlightening to visually see deep into Coruscant's underworld. The dark, dirty surroundings accentuated the dark tone. Despite Coruscant primarily being known as the galaxy's centre of politics, there really is an underclass on this planet, and they're laying around in the dirt getting drunk, and going without food.

We'd seen previously on the series that Coruscant uses police droids, so it was interesting to see that this far down into the depths, organic beings were used to staff the police force. They obviously can't afford to have a large droid force. Ahsoka being chased by this force was fun, but very dull compared to last episode's spectacular sequence. Contrary to that, Ahsoka jumping off the train, skidding backwards on the platform, was a great visual, and a great "hero moment". Shoutout to good-guy Brainee trying to help the police.

Going back to the beginning of this episode, the Jedi Council scene was one of the better ones we've seen in this show, with more than just Mace and Yoda putting their two cents in. Mace's distrust of Anakin is on show here, as he dislikes the idea of Anakin being on the search for his padawan. I'm interested to see how the relationship between Anakin and Mace develops, if not in the next episode, then in the rest of the show up to ROTS. Again setting the tone, lightning outside the Jedi temple was a good touch.

The stakes were high for Ventress, however, as I honestly felt she was in danger of dying as the mysterious culprit clubbed her with a pipe. Once again, this show isn't worried to take actions that are more appropriate for the feature films than a Saturday morning cartoon.

The unfortunate result of the attacker knocking out Ventress (and revealing herself to be a female in the ensuing duel) is that this only leaves one suspect - Barriss Offee. I've made clear on other threads that I think this idea isn't going to work, but I'm reserving judgement until the story reaches it's conclusion.

Regardless, the climactic lightsaber duel was intense, and I felt sorry for Ahsoka, as she took a beating like we've never seen before. I don't think Barriss (if it indeed is revealed to be her) should have been able to defeat her so easily, but it was exciting to watch. It also turned my expectations on my head from the trailers we'd seen right at the beginning of this season, as we'd all pretty much guessed it was Ahsoka dueling Asajj. The visual of her hiding behind that slab of metal, and being hurtled backwards by the explosion was a great one. The symbolic nature of Ahsoka losing her second lightsaber - she lost her first in last episode's chase - demonstrated that Ahsoka was out of luck, and out of chances. Falling right into the attacker's trap, she is captured by Wolffe and the Jedi.

Speaking of Wolffe, it was downright silly how easily he and his squad was taken out by Ahsoka and Asajj. I understand that the writers didn't want Ahsoka to kill any of them, and that Asajj has somewhat turned a new leaf, but I think it would have worked better if the two Force-wielders had just managed to escape, rather than knocking every single one out Batman: Arkham style.

Really, the worst thing about this episode is the implications about the next, so I'm not really sure if I can mark this episode down for that. I said I wouldn't give a score, but I'm going to. Ignoring the possible suspect's identity which will be focused on in the next episode, I'm sure, I give this episode a strong 8.5.

 

To be fair, It seemed like Ahsoka was winning the entire fight until Barris caught ahsoka in that explosion. After that she was pretty much K/O'd and easily defeated.... In a fair fight, Ahsoka would have won. In brain invaders Ahsoka pretty much whooped evil barris in their fight.

 

I disagree, it looked like Ahsoka was outmatched through the entire duel.

 

10/10,

Level 1313, Ahsoka v. whoever the heck that person in the cloak was, VENTRESS.

 

Another solid episode; the arc keeps getting better and better. Loved how it continued the story and the look and design of Coruscant's underworld was great (and the Tooka cat was pretty funky-looking and definitely felt like something out of a Ghibli movie). The scenes with Ahsoka & Ventress and them cooperating were great (and believable considering the character development the latter has gotten) and there were some really good fight scenes (Ahsoka & Ventress against the clone squad definitely stood out) and a nice chase sequence as well. The interactions between the characters were really good and I did like the tension that the episode had, much like the previous one; it did have a few minor flaws but nothing that really made me think less of it. I wonder if the upcoming fourth and last episode of the arc can top this one.

A tentative 10/10

 

4/10

Call this episode the "tension killer".

Ventress was wasted, the mystery was poorly handled, the duel was terrible and Ahsoka's character shield was made painfully obvious.

I'm not sure why I'm giving it any points at all. The only good thing about this episode is the drama that was established by the previous two episodes and "To Catch A Jedi" really dropped the baton in that regard. It's sad, this episode is called "To Catch a Jedi", but apparently the answer to that is "the bad guy needs to do it". TJWKTM actually featured a compelling chase, "To Catch A Jedi" did not.

 

10/10. Perfect episode. So immersive with the underworld, great sound design, music was phenomenal, just seeing Ahsoka and Ventress team up was very interesting.

 

"To Catch a Jedi"

+The thunder at the beginning
+Plo Koon
+Council scene
+The Coruscant underground is fascinating, I'm really looking forward to 1313 now
+The train sequence
+Music as usual is becoming excellent
+Elevator scene
+Ventress,my dear, you are brilliant
+Nice callback to the Nightsisters arc
+Hmmm, the warehouse information...
+Commander Wolffe, you may have badass armor, but you are no match for Ventress
+"It's the new me..."
+Amination was beyond superb, this arc is really pushing the boundaries
+Lighting truly is an obsession with the show's animation team, but it works so well...
+Ventress/Ahsoka dynamic
+The creature's reaction at Ventress
+Brilliant duel
+Ahsoka was written very well here
+Anakin's reaction at the stunned Ahsoka
+The ending shot of light rising beyond Coruscant

10/10

 

Well, there were a lot of issues, but still 10/10 amazing episode

 

I'm going 9/10 again. The clash between Mace and Anakin in the Jedi Council meeting was a great moment that felt very connected to Ep. III. As with The Jedi Who Knew Too Much, getting to see clones hunting down a Jedi also felt very connected to Ep. III. The environment immersed the viewer once again, this time not as directly reminiscent of the OT, but the crowded dirtiness of it did make it feel at least a little bit like Mos Eisely in Ep. IV to me. The Ahsoka/Ventress banter is some of the best of the series, and I think they're really nailing Ventress' new and evolving character in a grey area. Kevin Kiner did a great job with the score, using Ahsoka's motif quite a bit including nice variations where appropriate, and that little piece of music where she was trying to get the communicator station to work had a very John Williams-feel to it. The duel at the end is choreographed brilliantly, and seeing a dark Jedi in action always rules. I never even considered giving this a 10 because it's ridiculous when the clones have Ahsoka and Ventress surrounded and they literally just stand there with their blasters aimed at them at point blank range and do freaking NOTHING while Ahsoka and Ventress fight back. Why aren't they firing??? It's pretty bad.

 

In all seriousness, there were a lot of things I didn't like about TCAJ. It remains very forgettable, which is especially upsetting since it's when everything in the story gets ramped up a gear.

 

-1 for making the clones look silly by just standing there while Ahsoka flapped her gums. I watched the episode multiple times over and could simply not figure out why the clones just didn't zap Ahsoka and Ventress with stun rays immediately and without hesitation - especially when Wolff does it later on.
9/10.

 

7/10. Good episode, but it loses points for the clones forgetting how to pull a trigger and apparently the most well trained army of all time having pretty much no moves in hand to hand combat.

 

I think I'll ultimately give this one a 9/10. It was really good like I said in my above post but the following episode definitely topped it.

 

That was my biggest reason for not being able to go 10 as well, that scene looks really bad. Even after the fight commences, there are tons of clones with blasters aimed at point blank range just letting Ahsoka and Ventress smack everyone down unimpeded.

 

3/10. It's definitely not the worst of this arc, but it's just another part of the downhill slope.