Lovin’ You is Easy ‘Cause You’re Bugable…

The latest installment of TCW gifts us with several talking points: the grotesque, the holy-crap-how-did-they-do-that factor, and as per the usual, characterization. Firstly, I have to be honest. I was very much on edge during this episode. My expectations were, for once, not unreasonably high. Anytime someone mentions “zombies”, I have knee-jerk reaction of, “Oh, this again.” Coming into Friday night’s episode, the only thing I was thinking about were zombie bugs and how the HELL Dave was going to work them into Star Wars. Blah, Blah Deathtroopers, I know, I know… ONWARD.

So… the characterization… yeah, about that… Um, was it me or was Luminara a little out of character? From her initial spunky retorts addressed to Obi-Wan, to her “intending to grab him [Poggle]” she seemed more extroverted from the Luminara we were introduced to in Cloak of Darkness and Weapons Factory. The only thing I can think of that would herald this change is the loss of Barriss. Yes, she wasn’t present in Cloak of Darkness, but she was also uninjured, and Luminara had a replacement padawan of sorts at the time in Ahsoka. Perhaps she’s taking a page out of Anakin’s playbook. The  plight of the padawans may have effected her Jedi-tude. Anakin, on the other hand, was in classic form. From his trademark worrying, to the disregard for diplomacy over action, Anakin was himself through and through. Ki-Adi-Mundi is as mellow as ever. For some reason I expected his character to be uppity and fussy. I suppose I had unrealistic Gilbert and Sullivan expectations. (I’m still waiting, Dave. Still waiting…) Obi-Wan, who appears to have gotten over his malaise faster than Ki-Of-The-Two-Brains, is back in functioning form. Any residual “Geonosian Fears” that I touched upon in my response to Landing At Point Rain seem to have dissipated. He is his normal, dry self. I thought it interesting that instead of waiting for reinforcements like Anakin championed, during their time in the catacombs, he pushed forward to save Luminara’s life. I considered it a role reversal of sorts between him and Anakin. I particularly enjoyed the scientific aspect of Obi-Wan’s character. In some ways it exemplifies the Jedi detachment sentiment.

In my notes for the show, I have a single word written several times: faces. I noticed that in Legacy of Terror we see close-ups of the characters’ faces more so than in any other episode. It ties into the whole “horror/thriller” vibe of the episode. Seeing the reactions to the zombies and the queen before we see or understand the “threat” adds a psychological thrill to the viewing. The untraditional angles also lend a hand in unbalancing the viewer, and including them in the characters’ predicament.

Another interesting element to Friday’s episode was the sound design. Every sound was designed to set the viewer on edge. Whether it was the ominous clicking of the Geonosians or the slightly “slasher” film sounds throughout the episode, those guys created something downright scary. Also, I found the constant lightsaber hum to be reassuring in such frightening conditions. In addition to the sound effects, Dee Bradley Baker’s Queen Bee was singularly one of the most terrifying voices in SW history. It was grating and chilling, one couldn’t help but listen.

Also, I need to pose a question. Is Obes in charge re: rank wise to Luminara and possibly even Ki-Adi-Mundi? I ask this for several reasons *rolls the EU sleeves up and puts on the nerd glasses*: In Cloak of Deception I seem to remember a scene with Luminara and Obi-Wan where Obes was still clearly a padawan. So seniority wise, he should defer to her, no? I don’t know…that’s why I’m asking you guys.

I know y’all missed my list last week, so here’s an EXTRA long one to make up for it!

THE GOOD

• The Sandstorm: It was dusty, dusty eye candy.
• Was this the first mention of bacta in TCW? If it was, hooray!!
• Haters be hatin’, but I love battle droid humor. BDH gives me warm fuzzies.
• The bug “reliquaries” were freaky as all Hell.
• Mmmm… the return of Witty Banter (TM)!
• Were there space! spider webs in this episode? If there were, KUDOS.
• I absolutely love the idea of a Geonosian Hive mind. Also, the fact that Obes was willing to exploit it in order to win the war.
• The animation of the larvae was sickeningly real. Good job?
• EAT THEM, CONTROL THEM. It’s kind of a cake or death thing, no?
• I loved when Obes basically Force shoved Poggle the Tiny into the air.

THE FUG

• There were at times where I swore up and down I was playing a game of Zelda because of the background score.
• Zombie Bugs. As nifty as the idea was and as well executed, I could have done without it.
• The escape from the catacombs was very Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, hmm?
• Two words: Bug Vagina

Enjoy these stills from Legacy of Terror!

Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better

Alright, let me give a quick disclaimer: I was waylaid by my own two feet on my way to the local television set in my household. For all you ladies and, um, men who like to wear women’s shoes, just take off your damn high heels before running to catch the latest installment of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (now back in its regularly scheduled time slot of 9PM/EST!). All that is to say, I was two minutes behind when I tuned into the second episode of the Geonosis Arc, “Weapons Factory”. Subsequently, I felt disoriented during the entire episode, whether or not that was because I missed the familiar newsreel and Anakin and Ahsoka briefing their troops or if it was the episode as a whole, I’m not sure.

There were several interesting aspects about tonight’s episode, but what I came away with were two prevailing themes: sacrifice and faith. Yes, those are running themes throughout the show, but I really feel like these were telegraphed strongly this evening. Anakin’s proposed distraction, sending the clones marching in parade formation down the bridge, is one of the first examples of sacrifice in the episode, and what a sacrifice it is. Personally, I don’t think it’s Anakin playing fast and loose with the clones’ lives. It’s just another indicator that clones are becoming more commodity than human. We see the two padawans, Barriss and Ahsoka, willingly undertake a dangerous mission into the honeycombed, Genosian underground while their respective masters distract the Separatist forces. As the episode progresses, Ahsoka and Barriss dig themselves literally and figuratively into a hole. Faced with the inevitable annihilation of their forces should they choose to preserve their own lives, the two padawans make a decision that they believe will cost their own lives for the greater good. On the flip side of this, Anakin is unwilling to sacrifice his padawan for this mission. His attempts to keep her close to him are met with resistance and ultimately failure. What I saw as a more, refreshing theme was that of faith. We see the old SW adage weakness of “Faith in your friends”  evidenced in this episode as well. Though Anakin has no desire to see his padawan undertake this mission, no doubt remembering his own padawan experiences on Geonosis, he has complete faith that she would be able to complete the mission. In fact, more than once Skywalker audibly expresses his faith in her abilities. With his padawan as well as Luminara’s facing mortal peril, only his dogged faith in Ahsoka results in the padawans’ rescue. Ahsoka reciprocates his demonstration of faith telling Barriss that she knew her master, “would come looking for me.”

Juxtaposition was key in tonight’s show. Whether it was the master-padawan relationship between Anakin and Ahsoka and Luminara and Barriss or the partnership between the masters and padawans, it underscored the differences among the Jedi. Where Anakin and Ahsoka have a deeply personal and untraditional relationship that borders, to outsiders, on the disrespectful; Luminara and Barriss have a traditional and deferential teacher-student relationship.

My initial reaction to “Weapons Factory” was latter confirmed (at least to me). Side Note: I like things like this! The penultimate sequence was the first flag. Compare it to the Agni Kai duel in Part Three of Avatar: The Last Airbender: Sozin’s Comet. (Start the video around 7:25…) The muted sound effects and dialogue in conjunction with the musical score created a chilling visual and auditory effect. I was taken aback by how emotionally invested I was when this scene began. There were other little things reminiscent of ATLA as well: the “impenetrable” city, Barriss “drilling” into the Geonosian HQ, or something else my tired brain cannot remember. All in all, if I’m not reading too much into the episode, I enjoyed the little nods to Dave and Giancarlo’s past animated television series.

Another thing that I love about this series compared to the Tartakovsky micro-series, is the use of plausible Force feats. We see the standard  faire: speed, jumps, agility; but as Bryan pointed out we saw a diverse and incredible use of Force skills in “Weapons Factory”.  The Force enhanced upper body strength blew me away. ALSO, let’s discuss a little something. Was emotion used to fuel the force-aided rescue of the padawans? Hmmm? Just throwing that out there. It’s not as if Anakin is necessarily “dark” by this point. So what exactly is the definition of an emotional force user? I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of this in the coming episodes, and what degrades Anakin to where he is fully susceptible to the influence of Palpatine.

OH, I REMEMBER WHAT I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT!!! Okay, so EU Alarmists should run for the hills about now… Alan Dean Foster’s Approaching Storm? Yeah. You’re going to harp on this one for, like, years. Also, the MASH in Space books. Basically, I’ll just retcon the hell out of this for you: Barriss is not Anakin’s age. But, guess what this does set up! Go on, guess! Alright I’ll tell you, if Barriss is only slightly older than Ahsoka and is a Jedi Knight by the time of ROTS, then it stands to reason that Ahsoka may be as well. Suck on that, haters.

Also? I don’t care what any of y’all say… Ahsoka is not going to die. Sure you can rationalize it, but I won’t believe it. If by some snowball’s chance in hell we see her corpse on the season finale, I’ll chalk it up to sleep deprived hallucinations and pretend it never happened. So there.

Tune in next week for Part Three of the Geonosis Arc and enjoy these stills from “Weapons Factory”!

How Many Licks Does It Take to Destroy a Shield Generator?

Tonight’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode of Landing At Point Rain was engaging on several levels. Firstly, because I did not post a response to the last episode, Senate Spy, I’d like to point out to all those people saying that Point Rain “makes up for the last one” that their conclusions are only slightly ridiculous. Senate Spy was something completely different that we, as an audience, have not seen in the Star Wars franchise; whereas when you boil down the latest episode, it’s just another Giant Battle ™. MOVING ON…

As I touched on earlier, Landing At Point Rain is a multilayered story. On the outside it’s a ground and air campaign against enemy forces on an epic scale. Another layer is seeing how the individual deals with the stress of war and in particular a battle. On the deepest level, it’s a study on the psyche of a survivor: Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ki-Adi-Mundi are returning to a place of slaughter of their Jedi brethren.

It’s interesting how each of them dealt with their emotions. Surprisingly, Obi-Wan seemed to be the most shaken of the group; particularly during his “last stand” moment in Act III. The other thing I noticed were the various characters’ coping mechanisms: Obi-Wan tends toward the witty banter, while Anakin and Ahsoka, on the surface, turn warfare into a competition. Anakin also becomes absolutely ruthless on the battlefield. Comparatively speaking, his fighting style is much more aggressive than any of his peerage. When faced with the knowledge of Obi-Wan’s crash and subsequent radio silence, he becomes intensely focused on the mission in order to maintain a modicum of calm. (How uncharacteristic…) Ahsoka, on the other hand, seems more conservative in this situation. (Keen viewers will notice her use of a “non-reverse grip” on her lightsaber towards the beginning of the episode, but as the stress of the battle reaches her, she reverts into older habits and the “reverse-grip” reappears.) In addition to the competitive streak and her fighting styles, Ahsoka’s sarcasm comes back in full force. Regarding Obi-Wan’s desperation in this episode, I have a theory: Over the past 10 years Anakin has been his coping mechanism. He could always revert into teacher mode when they were a Master/Padawan team. Obi-Wan no longer has that luxury in this situation. All he has left is sighing and beard stroking. Ki-Adi-Mundi and his 17 brains seem to be just fine.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is the first time, excluding the abominable snowmen, that we have seen the Jedi and clone forces fighting and destroying an army of flesh and blood, or rather exoskeleton and goo, enemies? I think it is. That, in itself, raises the stakes to a level we have not yet seen. It’s not just a pile of metal bodies at the end of the day anymore. These are living creatures. That said, the Genosians were terribly menacing to me. Their noises and aggravated clicking were actually causing me stress. I wonder if that’s the multi-talented DBB providing the sounds… Though I can’t tell y’all how bad I wanted one of the Flamethrower! Clones to say, “Did someone call the exterminator?” in a really gravelly Clint Eastwood voice.

OMG, now it’s time for my LIST! Don’t you just love them?

The Good:

• The Animation: I know I say this every time, but these guys just keep on getting better and better. I have never seen anything like this on an animated series. Lucasfilm Animation is setting the bar on all future projects for themselves and the industry itself.
• Realistic Smoke and, um, Dirt Chunks
• Hello, Waxer & Boil! Long time, no battle.
• Blood! Blood! Blood! Seeing Obi-Wan looking legitimately injured took this episode to a whole other level.
• Excellent use of the Force. I enjoyed seeing the concentrated efforts of Anakin and Ahsoka. These are realistic Force properties.
• Fire: My inner pyromaniac got all excited.
• Yularen is more bitchtastic every episode and I love it.
• The final assault was something completely new. I don’t think we’ve ever seen something like that on TCW. The only way I can describe it is a “moving mural”.
• Ki-Adi-Mundi owned them all. He was so adorkable, he genuinely thought he was going to get some candy or a nice gift card to the local space Applebees at the end.

The Fugly:

• Whose assault plan was this? Can someone with stratergery explain it to me using small words and perhaps a diagram?
• I am normally a fan of Kevin Kiner’s scoring decisions. This may be the first time where the music did not enhance the show for me.
• Pacing: This episode wore me out. I enjoy some downtime in an episode and there was NONE of that here. All I need is a good thirty seconds to a minute of respite, but the pace of Landing At Point Rain was absolutely relentless. (Though, I have a feeling this was intentional.)

As I said on twitter, The only thing I hate about TCW is waiting for the next episode. Please enjoy these stills courtesy of the kind folks at the official site.

I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts!

Well, here it is folks. The main event… Are you strapped in? Did you bring a beverage? Okay, good. A little house keeping before we begin our journey through time and space… You can find part one of our four-part discussion here and part two here. Now, shall we?

Ebony and Ivory

I present to you, two images:

and

Does this disturb you?

It should.

The One with Babies

You might have noticed I didn’t do a recap of last week’s premiere of Season Two of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In lieu of my own words, have some of these. Moving along…

Did y’all see tonight’s episode? I might have uttered unintelligible phrases several times throughout the evening. I can see how this might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is the best episode I’ve watched in recent memory. Let’s run through some of the elements that I loved:

• The animation was spectacular. Yes we’ve seen Naboo and Rodia, but the Gungan city was breathtaking. If I paused the show frame by frame, it legitimately looks like a painting each time.
• Jedi Interrogation. It was an interesting contrast to Bane’s earlier method in Cargo of Doom. With Cade Bane I felt an air of malevolence, whereas with the Jedi it was almost sinister and somewhat cabal like. Good lord, I sound like Karen Traviss.
• Tooka Doll! It’s so nice to see holdovers from other episodes. Even a little thing like a child’s toy really makes the series even more seamless.
• I loved that there was genuine detective work in this episode. In EU novels, it’s always one of my favorite elements (The JA books had a goodly amount…)
• Let’s discuss that little Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom moment in Bane’s space hovel. I clapped my hands stupidly. Complete the analogy: Fedora:Lightsaber::Whip: _______
• I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am… I’m almost positive that during the rescue of the Jedi Babies ™ there was a snippet of Williams’ Battle of the Heroes. Only the opening horn call, and in a different key, also with different instrumentation, but I’m like 96.3% sure it’s in there.

Now for a couple of questions and miscellanea that I have:

• Is Obi-Wan on the council? Is it a provisional seat? What does this spell for the “Team”?
• There is a lot of violence towards Ahsoka. I have yet to decide my feelings on this matter.
• What is the surgery being performed on the younglings? Was it performed on the younglings?
• Palpatine/Sidious has a secondary facility. Where and why?

Overall, this was an outstanding episode. Can I have next Friday now? Please enjoy these stills from Children of the Force:

Back By Popular Demand

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

I cannot begin to tell y’all how excited I am for this!  In someways the wait between seasons is seemingly forever, but whether or not it has been intentional, Lucasfilm has been very smart filling in the gap left by TCW. Between various con sneak peeks, most notably SDCC, and the release of the first three FOTJ books, Star Wars fans have been left technically not wanting. At any rate, the wait is over around 8pm EST. If you’re looking to share your season two premiere experience with other fans, please join Eric and I over at TF.N for a live chat during and after the show.

PS. Not gonna lie, I have some reservations about this season character development wise… Come on Dave, prove me wrong!

Dave versus the Volcano

Welcome back for part two in a four part series addressing issues within the Expanded Universe! You can find the first discussion here. Many thanks to those who helped spread the word about this little endeavor, I really appreciate your efforts! Round two will cover the new animated series and its subsequent impact on the Expanded Universe.

Housekeeping

Hey y’all! I just wanted to draw your attention to the revamped side bar! As you can see, I finally got around to getting an email address for the blog if you need to contact me. And if email isn’t enough and you’re dying to hear my voice, Eric kindly gave me an invitation for Google Voice. I’d love to hear from you!

Batman: Arkham Asylum Review by Abigail P.

I’ve been wanting to review various games for a while now, but I’ve never much been interested in gaming. Luckily, that’s what friends are for… Abigail is going to be your guest blogger for today, and I encourage you discuss the gameplay and overall entertainment value in the comments below!