Some of you may have heard my diatribe about the state of Star Wars and I have to tell you something.

I take it all back.

Ok not really, but I have to say that the first episodes of the television serial launch by a tanker of a movie is not quite as bad as I’d thought it could be.  And yes that’s the highest praise I’m going to give it.  It turns out that taken in smaller doses, the Clone Wars story isn’t as bad as the movie.  The stupid battle droids are still in it, but the cute nick names are kept at a minimum and that horrible Ziro the Hutt is not even talked about.

What we get instead are all out battles between a mass of droids and a handful of clones, a wicked cool new Jedi master and a lot of new intrigue.  For those who like seeing things like shiny new Y-Wings, the origins of the Ion Canon and Yoda flipping around turning robots into glowing orange slag, you’d have really liked these premier episodes.  Both shows explored the Clones as individuals and not mindless troops behind iconic white helmets – and I bet the voice actor is getting more hours in the booth than anyone.  The shortened format allows the focus to glance over the characters quickly which means we don’t see Anakin get mopey, Ahsoka to get too girly or the robots to get too…well, lame.

Now we can all agree that the battle droids and their inane banter is a blight on the Star Wars universe.  When we first see them in Phantom Menace, they are indecisive and codependent.  The most forceful we ever see them is on Naboo, “Don’t worry sir.  If they’re down here, we’ll find them.”  That’s what robots do, they are cold and calculating.  Or are they?

Let’s look at spunky Artoo and flighty Threepio.  They’re quirky, lippy and have as much personality as Chewie or Han or anyone we’ve seen.  The problem I believe we’re running into is now we’re forced to see these traits in an army.  This is a typical Lucas move, though.  The droid army were the Nazi’s, replete with marching goosestep into battle with the Gungans.  But now we’re supposed to believe they’re goofy and cute just like everything else.  It’s kinda clever to defuse the facelessness for kids, but I’m still not convinced.  Still, it’s not as bad as any of the movies.

But that’s a small part.  If the shows keep doing what the first two episodes are doing, I’ll watch it more.  But follow me to an online petition to stop Ahsoka from saying “Artooey.”

I’ll give each of these three lightsabers.  It’s a lot of room to grow, and a lot to fail.