I know I have to subject myself to the worst episodes of Clone Wars just in case I can strip them for parts, but goddamn, today was horrible. I know it’s not interesting to read about for you guys either, but on the off chance that it spawns any ideas, here we go again…
The movie has some nice Coruscant establishing shots, and there are a handful of decent Ahsoka lines, plus a decent Sidious capper if you needed an ominous ending and had the footage for it. It’s kind of a shame that they shot their wad on this idea so early, because having Anakin return to Tattooine and talk Ahsoka through his feelings there could have been really powerful if done as well as the later storytelling.
Ambush has one really nice scene where Yoda tells the clones they’re special, but it looks like utter ass so I don’t think it’s worth me forcing it into my ‘lost clones’ anthology episode (along with Deserter, Gregor, and the traitor from Hidden Enemy).
Blue Shadow Virus has nothing except maybe the odd bit of combat banter but I don’t think I’ll need any more of that, and Sphere of Influence is totally worthless.
Almost universally in this show, anything to do with Tattooine or Hutts is absolute guff, Jar Jar is obviously extremely grating, and Padmé’s episodes generally suck. They really did Padmé dirty in this show, or perhaps they had an uphill struggle since she’s a senator and he’s a warrior and they have to keep their relationship secret, so it’s hard to get them opportunities to spend time together in a way that feels natural. Either way, Padmé got few good storylines and often Anakin/Padmé meetings felt forced, even when the actual character writing in them was decent. It’s disappointing but it’s better to keep Padmé sidelined than to force her crappy episodes to the fore.
What a horrible viewing experience today; I’m very glad to be dumping these forever. It’s genuinely put me off the Clone Wars a bit, I have to remind myself that the whole purpose of this exercise is to cut out this rot and leave only the delicious fruit behind. I’ll conclude this intermission review process by watching through my own episodes again, both to remind myself of their context and get a feel for their ongoing story, and to nourish myself on the good bits of this show.