The strength of this episode came when it had clear narrative momentum. I've often complained about the video game plotting of this show, but in the context of the episode and a planetary rebellion, it worked. The episode established why it was important for the Onderon rebels to make a splash beyond minor droid attacks (to convince the people they can win); it showed them putting the intermediate pieces of their plan in place so that they could accomplish their goal (tricking the droids into sending a tank they could commandeer), and then executing the endgame in impressive fashion (destroying the power station). While it's all fairly simple and straightforward, it provides a clear throughline and build for the episode that's occasionally lacking in even the show's better episodes.
Those big sequences themselves, from the minor attack to secure the tank, to the big attack on the power facility replete with assassin droids, are very well animated and directed. Whether it's the nigh-first person perspective from behind Steela to the wide shots of the power plant exploding, the folks behind the scenes took care to ensure we understood both the scope of the rebels' efforts, but also that we could see and appreciate the moving parts.
There's some of the usual problems though. For the one thing, everyone talks in pretty stilted exposition in parts, particularly at the beginning and end of the episode. Obviously you have to convey a certain amount of the information for the plan to make any sense, but it's obvious when the show's doing it. In the same way, the biggest albatross for this show is underlining its message in a very blunt fashion at the beginning and end of an episode. There's a really interesting theme at play here about what it takes to rally ordinary people facing an oppressive government, but the episode's exploration of that loses its force when it has Jedi masters delivering on-the-nose speeches about it. (Though I did appreciate the new King's conversation with his predecessor on that topic.)
And with these multi-episode arcs, the pacing often suffers, and that's true here as well. While there should be a little denouement after the power plant goes up in smoke, the episode sort of stalls out focusing on how to pick a leader and more teen romance drama. (Were we not supposed to know that Steela and Saw were siblings?). Still, overall, this was an episode with a great deal of focus and energy for most of its run time, and that really paid off.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-07-21T16:48:50Z
The strength of this episode came when it had clear narrative momentum. I've often complained about the video game plotting of this show, but in the context of the episode and a planetary rebellion, it worked. The episode established why it was important for the Onderon rebels to make a splash beyond minor droid attacks (to convince the people they can win); it showed them putting the intermediate pieces of their plan in place so that they could accomplish their goal (tricking the droids into sending a tank they could commandeer), and then executing the endgame in impressive fashion (destroying the power station). While it's all fairly simple and straightforward, it provides a clear throughline and build for the episode that's occasionally lacking in even the show's better episodes.
Those big sequences themselves, from the minor attack to secure the tank, to the big attack on the power facility replete with assassin droids, are very well animated and directed. Whether it's the nigh-first person perspective from behind Steela to the wide shots of the power plant exploding, the folks behind the scenes took care to ensure we understood both the scope of the rebels' efforts, but also that we could see and appreciate the moving parts.
There's some of the usual problems though. For the one thing, everyone talks in pretty stilted exposition in parts, particularly at the beginning and end of the episode. Obviously you have to convey a certain amount of the information for the plan to make any sense, but it's obvious when the show's doing it. In the same way, the biggest albatross for this show is underlining its message in a very blunt fashion at the beginning and end of an episode. There's a really interesting theme at play here about what it takes to rally ordinary people facing an oppressive government, but the episode's exploration of that loses its force when it has Jedi masters delivering on-the-nose speeches about it. (Though I did appreciate the new King's conversation with his predecessor on that topic.)
And with these multi-episode arcs, the pacing often suffers, and that's true here as well. While there should be a little denouement after the power plant goes up in smoke, the episode sort of stalls out focusing on how to pick a leader and more teen romance drama. (Were we not supposed to know that Steela and Saw were siblings?). Still, overall, this was an episode with a great deal of focus and energy for most of its run time, and that really paid off.