Clone Wars 1X17/8 Blue Shadow Virus

[Mr Light]

Last night we were treated with an hour of new Clone Wars... but I found the episodes a little lacking. The first half, "Blue Shadow Virus", was particularly bad. It was a perfect storm: Jar Jar with new voice actor who is even more annoying than Best. A female Jar Jar. An evil mad scientist who says "yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!". Oy. And was it my imagination or was the animation very subpar? Maybe it was just the featureless Naboo plains, but it just looked simple and cheap.

The second episode, "Mystery of a Thousand Moons", was definitely better. I really enjoyed the junk world planet and the energy asteroid trap. In comparison to the previous episode, the CGI on the junk world was amazingly detailed.

In the scene where Anakin freaks out about Padme being exposed to the virus, and Obi puts a restraining hand on his shoulder... This to me all but proves that Obi knows he's secretly with Padme. In ROTS when he sees Padme preggers he automatically knows it's Anakin's. I think over the course of the series we'll see that Obi knows or all but knows about it but chooses to keep his silence out of respect for his friend and his great heroism.

My biggest problem? Ashoka is fighting for her life against two droidekas. Jar Jar shoots away her lightsaber and then exposes Padme to the lethal virus, sentencing her to death. But is anyone mad? Nooo. If I was Padme I wouldn't just shrug it off! I'd frickin' pissed at that gangling idiot! I'm not a complete Jar Jar hater, but I really don't like the extremes they're taking him to in this show.

 

[nx1701g]

^ But there was some reference to that at the end of the episode (Jar Jar). Obi-Wan tells Jar Jar they're going to train him on how to use a blaster properly and Rex just looks up and says: "I am not training him" or something to that effect.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

The alien doctor with the evil German accent. Not a great villain.

Female Gungan.

Yeah, the junk planet was the best part.

Captain Typho is the most worthless sack of crap this side of Zero the Hutt.

I wouldn't hire that a-hole as a mall security guard. What exactly did he ever succesfully protect?

 

[Christopher]

My biggest problem? Ashoka is fighting for her life against two droidekas. Jar Jar shoots away her lightsaber and then exposes Padme to the lethal virus, sentencing her to death. But is anyone mad? Nooo. If I was Padme I wouldn't just shrug it off! I'd frickin' pissed at that gangling idiot! I'm not a complete Jar Jar hater, but I really don't like the extremes they're taking him to in this show.

On the other hand, they really played up Jar Jar's tendency to stumble in ways that prove beneficial; indeed, it even seemed to me that Padme intentionally allowed or encouraged him to trip and fall flat on his face, thereby revealing the location of the hatch into the hidden base. I wonder if the characters suspect or sense that he has some special luck, perhaps the Force-sensitivity I've seen suggested.

The alien doctor with the evil German accent. Not a great villain.

On the other hand, he was played by Michael York, which surely counts for something.

 

[DarthPipes]

Thought both episodes were great. Liked how they brought Naboo and later Iego to life. Always nice when all of the big three are involved.

 

[Shawnster]

The Angel in the second episode was interesting. Coincidentally SpikeTV is showing TPM right now. I just flipped to the scene where they first arrive on Tattoine and Anakin asks if Padme is an Angel.

ANAKIN : Are you an angel?
PADME : What?
ANAKIN : An angel. I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They
live on the Moons of Iego I thimk. They are the most beautiful creatures in
the universe. They are good and kind, and so pretty they make even the most
hardened spice pirate cry.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

I didn't catch that. Interesting.

The real question the first episode brings up is "a female gungan, would you hit that?

 

[Mr Light]

I, too, randomly channel flipped to TPM on Spike tonight and saw the "angels of Iego" scene. I'd completely forgotten this line and didn't realize this was a TPM reference in the series. Nice!

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I liked the female Gungan and the little scene of her riding with her herd, I don't know why but I always like those scenes in Science Fiction and we rarely get those moments in TV shows.

I agree the mad scientists was a bit too "mad scientist" but otherwise enjoyed these episodes.

I've really grown to like Ahsoka over the course of this series.

 

[JediKnightButler]

I wouldn't say that this was a bad set of episodes since I've been generally enjoying the series but the second part seemed much stronger. I didn't like that Jar Jar had yet another alternative voice actor. I wish Ahmed Best could do his voice exclusively. Did anybody else get a TPM "vibe" with this episode? If I remember correctly, there was an EU story featuring a biological attack by the Separatists on a Gungan colony so I thought that that might have inspired this episode. The whole idea of armies using biological warfare against others has always creeped me out.

I missed the connection to the "angels" line from TPM. Nice find. I also didn't know that Michael York did the voice for the mad scientist. He was a bit OTT but it didn't really bother me. The moons of Iego scenes with Obi-Wan and Anakin were really good. I loved how- when they first arrived- Anakin charged ahead slicing up all of those battle droids before realizing that they weren't going to attack them- with Obi-Wan trying to tell him.

One question: Did anybody else think that that boy was the one controlling the energy field? I could've sworn I saw him touch his control panel right as Anakin and Obi-Wan were attempting to leave the Iego moon the first time? By the end of the episode it seems as though he actually had nothing to do with it however. However, him being responsible for it would've made for an interesting angle to the episode- that he was preventing people who came there from leaving because he was lonely all the while using a "spirit" as an excuse (kind of "Twilight Zone-ish"). But I guess that's not what they were going for.

 

[Christopher]

^^Yeah, I got the same vibe -- I was assuming the kid would be the one trapping people there so he wouldn't be alone. As it was, his presence in the story was kind of pointless.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Would've made the kid a murderer, not sure they'd go there.

 

[Tomato]

I swear when I saw the female gungan I was like, "Jar Jar is going to get some this episode!!

 

[JediKnightButler]

Would've made the kid a murderer, not sure they'd go there.

Well, given that the show is more or less aimed at a younger audience, I'd definitely agree. If it had been intended for a more mature crowd it would've made for an excellent "dark" twist.

I still wonder, however, if the writers left it a bit vague because, like I said, I could've sworn that he touched his control panel right as Anakin and Obi-Wan were leaving that first time and he really didn't seem too concerned about the fact that nobody could leave the planet or that so many people had already died trying to leave. I mean, after all, he apparently had it made with things being what they were like when Anakin and Obi-Wan got there so why would he want to give that up and/or have anything change? Given his apparent knack for having been able to reprogram those battle droids it would've been entirely plausible that he could've figured out a way to reprogram the separatist energy shield as well had he gotten ahold of the controls and, as for the pilots whom died trying to escape, well, it's entirely possible that he may not have intended for that to happen but believed, naively, that nobody would be suicidal enough to destroy themselves trying to leave. Who knows? Most of the stuff on the show is pretty straightforward but every know and then they throw a situation or scene into the mix that causes you to wonder if there isn't something more going on. That whole scene just seems kind of pointless without something larger and perhaps more sinister going on. Or at least, it's the perfect setup for such a situation. The show may be aimed for a younger audience but that doesn't mean the writers won't occasionally throw some things in there that older members of the audience might see that the kids might not. I mean, think of subversive shows like Spongebob, Ren & Stimpy, and Rocko's Modern Life and the kinds of things the writers are prone to putting in those shows. ;-)

 

[exodus]

I, too, randomly channel flipped to TPM on Spike tonight and saw the "angels of Iego" scene. I'd completely forgotten this line and didn't realize this was a TPM reference in the series. Nice!

Oh wow, great catch!!!

I have a funny feeling we're going to see that kid again.