I liked this episode. Particularly the bit with the battle droids fighting through the sandstorm only for one to die alone - these guys are an endless mine of pitch black humour. Don't let it up, fellas.
Otherwise, the mood was suitably creepy and there was the first bit of actual tension I've felt in this series, which was nice. The designs were also rather good - Genosians were a rather eerie swarm in their capacity to suddenly disconnect from the walls in Attack of the Clones. The Queen was suitably monstrous if unsurprising - wasn't anyone else expecting some sort of massive slug-like thing, or was that just me? Anyway, shades of Starship Troopers here, though thankfully without the vagina. Also a mite so in the useage of 'bugs', quite.
I'm less keen on the increased tendency for non-Basic speaking aliens to speak Basic in the series, though - to date we've had a Hutt (Ziro), some Rodians (chiefly Onaconda Farr) and now a Geonosian (Karina the Great). It typically makes sense from a plot perspective - we need these characters to talk to understand what the hell they're saying, and it is probably expecting too much of the young audience to sit through subtitles, but it's even more jarring when these characters are seen right alongside others who are still incapable of speaking Basic, like Jabba and - in this case - Poggle the Lesser.
Surely Poggle of the two would be the guy who knew the language, as he routinely interacted with offworlders while the queen was so reclusive that to many offworlders she was little more than a myth, but hey, I guess not and plot must plod along. It also sort of botched the impression I sometimes got - of the Genosians in particular - that they didn't speak the language because they couldn't articulate it, just as we wouldn't be all that good at the series of odd clicks Poggle had for a tongue.
Also, with retaking Geonosis more than once and as observed upthread we seem to be equally good at capturing leaders who will subsequently escape, the war does feel fairly vague and lacking in progression. Honestly though? Been true for the entire series to date. Even ignoring consistency cockups like "Senate Spy", the state of the war is whatever the hell works best for a given episode, and even though we seem to use the same dozen planets or so over and over for stomping grounds, the particulars clearly aren't all that important.
But I disgress too pointlessly on tiresome complaints, this was, again, a rather enjoyable half-hour. Not enough Ashoka, perhaps, but she'll be in the next installment. I like that kid.
