Something strange happened on our way to the oughties. Hollywood, always a broker in dreams and happy endings, began to pander ceaselessly to an audience that didn’t like to think, hated working to understand. Television had almost always been a place where audiences could tune out and enjoy, but film started to take the same approach. Features became blockbuster amusement park rides — CGI-driven events with characters who serviced the plot and where more emphasis was placed on spectacle than commentary on the human condition. Film became about watching aliens destroy the White House, where dinosaurs walked and roared, and where people could live vicariously through an on-screen serial killer while he tortured and murdered his victims. Although there are exceptions, cinema is nearly as far from the fertile creative period of the late 1960′s and 1970′s as humanity is from the primordial soup.

It’s strange, now, to find that television has become a refuge for classical storytelling. Of subtext and character and questions about life’s meaning, the choices we make, our mistakes and flaws. The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, the Wire, Sons of Anarchy, and so many others take the material that infused the early films of Coppola, Spielberg, Scorsese, Woody Allen (actually, middle-period Woody Allen, but who’s counting), Altman and their contemporaries and transplant it into a longer serialized format. Instead of spending just two hours with characters, the television medium offered a chance to tell long, engaging epic stories about the human condition. Unbound by the rules that every episode is someone’s first, arc-driven television took off and transcended the episodic reset button of a million forgotten cop shows, of Captain Picard and his planet of the week, the Dukes of Hazzard, and their eternal fight against Boss Hogg. The way was opened with the storytelling potential first  glimpsed in Twin Peaks, where the soap opera form was merged with art film, and television was transformed forever.

There were, of course, experiments along the road,  half-successful attempts to wed the serialized format to the older, episodic model. The twin space station  shows of the early mid-1990′s, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5; the X-Files where Scully only remembered what she saw in the mythology episodes,and forgot her encounters with the paranormal in the stand-alone shows;  Millennium, where one moment Frank Black is talking to the dead and fighting a secret society bent on starting Armageddon, and the next he’s back to investigating the lastest serial killer. There were the Joss Whedon shows — Buffy, Angel and Firefly, where an arc was successfully married to the episodic format in way that exceeded all their forebears. And Battlestar Galactica, which began as an episodic show about a rag tag fleet running from genocidal machines and turned into a mishmash of mythology, mommy issues and ultimately, deus ex machina.

And then there’s Lost, the greatest experiment of them all, where an ill-fated flight from Sydney to Los Angeles crashes on a mysterious island in the middle of the pacific. Where characters — all haunted and flawed, just as we are in the real world — are forced to learn to live together or die alone. And as flashbacks allow us to understand how they got to the island, the show slowly unravels what the island is, opening mysteries that lead to existential questions of fate versus free will, faith versus reason, love versus selfishness and the potential of redemption. What began as an unconventional character-driven drama slowly evolved into the realm of fantasy and science fiction, pulling a largely mainstream audience along with it.

Of course, the audience complained — they stomped their feet.  They wanted answers now — and as the show answered questions with more questions, they became frustrated. Finally, in season six we learned that no one has all the answers — no one really knows what the island is.  There’s a power, a well of light at the center, that allows some people to live forever. It heals wounds quickly and even seems to be able to resurrect the newly dead. What that power is is never explained, nor do we ever learn its true purpose. But we do know if that power is uncorked that everyone on earth could die. Not that they will die, but that it’s possible. It becomes, therefore, a question of faith — in belief over reason. And just as no one on earth knows why we’re here or how we really came to be, no one on Lost knows, either. We find that those who pretend to know — Ben, Richard, the Others, the Dharma Initiative — really know nothing at all. Ultimately, they’re as clueless as the survivors of Oceanic 815. And even Jacob, the centuries-old being charged with defending the power at the heart of the island, and his nameless brother, the man in black, know almost as little as everyone else.

It would have been easy for the show’s creators, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, to concoct easy answers for everything. It would certainly satisfy a large chunk of the audience if Lost was just an elaborate puzzle, mechanically assembled, its pieces revealed to the viewer by the end. Most wanted to believe that this, in fact, was what the show was about. They obsessed over the long-dead Dharma initiative, the statue’s foot, the window dressing to the existential questions at the center of the show, the identity of the Others. They hunted for clues and easter eggs in every frame. And they knew that the end would give them all the answers, and that they would ultimately have what they wanted.

But, as Joss Whedon famously said, it’s the writer’s job to give the audience what they need, not what they want. And trained by years of big-budget blockbusters with neat and tidy happy endings, the audience was unprepared for what Lost would ultimately provide — a look into a mirror at their own mortality, an experience more akin to great films such as Kubrick’s 2001, Tarkovsky’s original Solaris, Krystof Kieslowsky’s musings on fate and coincidence,and Copolla’s beautiful look at a deeply flawed character, the Conversation, than to the pat adventure stories of today. Not answers to the great questions of life, but a reflection on those questions. Questions we all must face. Why am I here? Is there a purpose? Can I be redeemed for my mistakes? Will I be alone when I die?

The plot of the finale brings some degree of closure to the central conflicts of the show — Desmond disables the well of light, making both Jack, who has taken Jacob’s place as protector of the island, and the Man in Black, mortal. The island begins to crumble, just as the Man in Black intended, allowing him to finally leave. Jack believes that letting the island be destroyed will possibly kill everyone on earth. Which brings the argument that has driven Lost from the beginning to full circle — faith versus reason. Jack, the former man of reason is now a man of faith, believing that the Man in Black is destroying the world. The Man in Black, despite all evidence to the contrary, sees the island and its power as an arbitrary prison. A thing of randomness and cruel indifference to his long suffering. Jack, Locke, Jacob and the woman who raised him, he believes, were all fools.

The final fight between the two is epic and results in the Man in Black mortally wounding Jack. However, Kate is able to intervene and finish off the Man in Black before he leaves. Jack may be dying, but the monster won’t leave the island.

In this moment, Kate finally realizes that she loves Jack — something Jack has always acknowledged that he feels for her. And as she loses him, the weight of that reality — constantly pushed aside by her own selfishness and immaturity — is clear to the audience. Kate must choose between what she promised she would do before coming back to the island  – return Claire to her son and staying with Jack. A sacrifice she must make, just as Jack must sacrifice himself to the island to save everyone. At this moment the love triangle that obsessed fans for so many years is pointless — Kate is not defined by the men in her life, but what she must do for Claire and Aaron. And Jack, the healer, must give himself up for the greater good. It is a natural, and agonizingly tragic end to their arcs. But it makes deep emotional sense.

With Hurley and Ben to help him, Jack returns to the well where he must restore the island. He passes his job as protector to Hurley, the most humane of all Lost’s characters. It makes perfect sense that Hurley should protect the island — he was the one the cabin appeared to, who Jacob spoke to and guided after his murder. Hurley, who talks to the spirits of the dead and loves people, all people, is the right man for the job. And Ben, guided for so long by his need for love and approval, is finally called upon to do good. Hurley’s request that Ben stay and help him protect the island is so natural and necessary to both characters. It’s a wonderful moment further augmented by Desmond’s return to the surface. Hurley suggests that there’s no way to return him to Penny and his son, but Ben doesn’t think so. That’s the way Jacob ran things, he says. You don’t have to do that. Ben is voicing the central conceit of the show: there’s always a choice to be made — and always a chance to correct the mistakes of the past. Desmond will get his happy ending, and Hurley and Ben will facilitate it because they choose to. They have the power, and they choose Desmond over their own selfishness.

At the bottom of the well, Jack puts the cork back in the bottle, restoring the island. Sobbing with joy, he is enveloped in light — his task is done, and now he can finally be at rest. Yet, he finds himself waking above ground. As he stumbles dying through the forest, he flashes between the present and the sideways universe where all the characters have been converging all season.

This is where controversy will rage within Lost fandom until the show is forgotten. As the final season began, we saw a parallel timeline where Oceanic 815 never crashed and the survivors were all seemingly set-up for happy endings. Locke comes to terms with his disability and is given the opportunity to walk again. Jack resolves issues with his son in such a way that he puts to rest his own lingering problems with his father. Claire is given the opportunity to keep her baby, while Kate is able to help that happen. Benjamin Linus is reunited with Alex and can atone for allowing her to die. Hurley is reunited with Libby. Faraday becomes a musician instead of a scientist. Sawyer becomes a lawman instead of a criminal and finds Juliet, once more. Miles grows up with his father. Charlie realizes that he has to find his one true love, Claire. Desmond searches for Penny. Sun and Jin are brought together with their unborn child, free of her father’s influence.

But as the final moments of the show tick down, it becomes clear that the sideways universe isn’t real. It’s certainly emotionally real, but what it represents — an afterlife, the collective hopes and dreams of all the characters of the show, a fantasy that Jack experiences in his final moments, the audience’s own wishes — is uncertain. Christian Shepherd, meeting his son for one last time, tells Jack that it’s the place they all created where they can meet each other when it’s time to move on. They all died at different times and now are all dead at last and together again. As Chris Piers said after the show was over, Juliet’s dying words at the beginning of the season — saying that she and James should go out for coffee — indicated that the sideways universe was in fact real. But my own interpretation is that it represents the closure that all of the characters wanted, but never got — the wishes they experienced at the moment of death. To be reunited with their friends and loved ones one last time before moving on into oblivion.

When Jack lays in the bamboo forest just as he did in the pilot, looking up into the sky to see the others escaping the island by plane, satisfied to have saved them and resolved in his dying, the show is truly at peace with itself. He was a flawed man who always aspired to help others, but was hindered by his own feelings of inadequacy and his father’s disapproval. Yet, he was able to protect the island in a way that Jacob never could, and he was successful in freeing his friends. It was fitting, then, that his final reward was to die in the company of Vincent, the yellow Labrador retriever, who woke him at the start of the series. Laying next to Jack as he passed away, Vincent provided one last act of comfort and love. And as Jack’s eye closed a final time, finishing the story, we know that he did not die alone, nor did he die in vain.

As some of my readers probably know, a year and a half ago I was stricken with congestive heart failure and told by doctors that I would likely die. There was a moment when I lay in bed, convinced that my time was up. I thought about the events of my life, the choices I made, and how things might have gone had I done things differently. To me, I experienced my own version of the sideways universe — ultimately deciding that I would not have changed anything. To me, the sidways universe and Jack’s final moments represent the hope we all feel for redemption and closure, emotional answers to the questions that drive our lives. That it wasn’t real in the literal sense doesn’t make it any less emotionally real to the characters. It was, I believe, a collective longing for closure that they — and we the audience — all feel at the moment of death. But that is my interpretation — you are, of course, free to decide anything you like. Successful art gives you the tools to make your own decisions — and as unaccustomed as contemporary audiences are to such complexity, it is the mark of great art.

Death is something Lost did right throughout its run — characters died heroically (Charlie, Jack, Sayid), accidentally (Shannon, Boone, Michael), suddenly (Ilana, Arzt), because of their own acts of evil (Keemey, Michael), through illness (Charlotte) and were murdered (Locke, Ana Lucia, Libby and Jacob). Sometimes the audience knew it was coming, others it was a complete surprise. The deaths of major and beloved characters such as Farraday and Charlie seemed gratuitous and unnecessary to the audience, but just as no one gets to choose when they die, characters in the show often died just as randomly as in real life and often without closure.

In the end, the point of Lost is that the mysteries of life, the warring ideologies of existence, are ultimately unanswerable. What we have, instead, is the love we feel for each other. Our friends and families. Our good deeds and bad deeds and our struggle for hope and redemption. We can’t say why we are here, but we can control what we do when we’re here. For some, this kind of nuanced ending rich with subtext and open for interpretation will fall short and feel deeply unsatisfying. But for me, having glimpsed my own death firsthand, it is enough.

(Crossposted at http://www.jeffzombie.com)

Adversity is friendship’s truest test.

Friday night’s Clone Wars episodes were amazing!! In “R2 Come Home,” Mace and Anakin return to the crashed Venator Class Republic Cruiser on Vanqor. They are attempting to rescue Adm. Killian, but their search of the ship is fruitless. They find the bodies of the clone crew, all executed. In the bridge of the ship, Anakin spots a Mandalorian style helmet. Mace realizes that it is silver and blue, like the one Jango Fett wore. Unfortunately, Anakin does not hear his warning before lifting the helmet and causing a bomb to explode.

In the distance, a group of bounty hunters, including Boba Fett, watch as the bridge of the crumbling ship blows up. Castas, a bounty hunter, assumes that any one in the bridge must have been destroyed. However, Boba wants to make sure he gets his vengeance. Aurra Sing backs him up because returning with the heads of two Jedi to the Separatists will fetch a heavy price. Bossk is tasked with staying with their prisoners, Admiral Killian and couple of troopers.

The interior of the Endurance is a death trap, of course, R2 adds to the danger whenever possible. He knocks crates and spare parts down the hallways the bounty hunters are trying to climb up and closes a blast door, blocking their path. On their third attempt, he tosses a grenade down the hallway, rocking the entire ship, threatening the lives of everyone on board. The bounty hunters decide that it is too dangerous to search the bridge and opt to blow up the entire ship instead. R2 hears this and flees the ship to seek rescue for Anakin and Mace. Unfortunately, the bounty hunters jam his communications and then destroy them, forcing him to pilot Mace’s starfighter. The bounty hunters recognize the starfighter as Mace’s and believe he has survived. They follow R2 in Slave I and attempt to destroy the craft.

As R2 nears the hyperspace rings, Boba is faced with a choice. He must determine which ring R2 is headed for, so that he can destroy it and trap him there. Boba mistakenly blows up the yellow ring, and R2 safely escapes in the red hypersapce ring. On Coruscant, R2 races through the hallways of the Jedi Temple and arrives in a room where Master Plo Koon is speaking with Ahsoka. R2 tumbles down the stairs into the room, demanding to play the message. Plo Koon obliges him, and R2 plays a hologram of Anakin trapped beneath rubble, pleading for help. Ahsoka and Plo Koon waste no time getting to Vanqor. On Vanqor, they steady the bridge with the Force, while several clone troopers climb aboard and free Anakin and Mace from the rubble. As the Jedi and Clones fly away, the bridge breaks off from the rest of the ship and crashes down into the lower part of the ship, causing a huge explosion. Mace and Anakin have a few burns but nothing a night in the bacta tank won’t fix.

This episode lead well into the next.

“Lethal Trackdown”

Despite being a bounty hunter, Boba is very compassionate towards their prisoners. To Aurra’s displeasure, he offers them water and speaks kindly to them. They try to appeal to Boba to help them, but he is focused on revenge. Boba and Aurra transmit a message to the Jedi Temple, demanding that Mace Windu come to meet them or the hostages will be killed. At the end of the message, Aurra orders Boba to kill a clone trooper, but he can’t do it, so she does it (more evidence of Boba’s compassion).

Mace has just finished telling Anakin that he will not go after Boba because he will not behave as a child does and because vengeance is not the Jedi way when Plo Koon and Ahsoka come in announcing that there is a message from the bounty hunters. After they play the message for Mace, he refuses to go. Plo Koon agrees, but not because he agrees morally, rather he believes Mace is not yet well enough to face the bounty hunters. He states that he and Ahsoka will go instead.

Ahsoka and Plo Koon head to the lower levels of Coruscant. In a bar, Plo Koon begins a discussion with the bartender, while Ahsoka tries to listen as Plo Koon has taught her, instead of acting rash like Anakin. She overhears a conversation about a man Aurra Sing murdered on Florrum. Although she is discovered, she and Plo Koon make a hasty escape from the bar and head for Florrum. When they arrive on Florrum, they meet Hondo. Plo Koon asks, “Can I assume that I am being lead into a trap?” Hondo responds affirmatively, but tells him that he wanted him to know that he was not involved. (THIS conversation is one of the details that I love that the writers throw in. It’s great. It gives away a lot about Hondo’s identity as a smuggler/pirate. He doesn’t want to get involved. It’s a really sleek line that makes clear his motives and provides a quick description of his entire society – think Han Solo in A New Hope, anyway back to the recap)

Plo Koon mets Aurra who is disappointed that Mace refused to face them. Boba is standing behind Plo Koon menacingly, but Plo Koon doesn’t seem to mind. (Perhaps, he remembers that Boba couldn’t kill the clone in the message they transmitted). The Jedi out maneuver the bounty hunters and capture Boba Fett, but Aurra gets away on a speeder. Ahsoka pursues her while Plo Koon interrogates Boba about the prisoners. Hondo aids him by offering Boba some fatherly advice that he should reveal where the kidnapped prisoners are because it will be better in the long term. Boba obviously agrees, and Plo Koon contacts Ahsoka. He tells her that Aurra has been leading her away from the prisoners, so Ahsoka turns back. Aurra arrives to the site where the prisoners are being held shortly after Ahsoka, but manages to nimbly board Slave I before Ahsoka can capture her. Ahsoka jumps aboard one of the wings and cuts it off. At this point, Aurra attempts to fly away or land (it’s not clear which) and crashes the ship. The last we see of Boba Fett is when he is being escorted away by clone troopers.

I really enjoyed all the face time Plo Koon got. He is great! I love him. Really well designed and very badass. However, Mace Windu’s lines were HORRIBLE. Half the time he looked like a douchebag (for example, calling Boba Fett a “problem,” if he knew he orphaned him, shouldn’t he have done something? or at least not called him a problem? he’s a benevolent Jedi and left a 12 year old kid alone in the galaxy. good job.) and the other half of the time he was spouting those nonsense lines that Obi-Wan usually has to say that spell out everything. I really like the role Hondo played. He’s a great ambiguous character, just as smugglers are meant to be. He plays both sides gradefully and, at one point, gives advice to Boba in a fatherly way, encouraging good thinking, rather than the rash action of Aurra. Additionally, he’s just a well designed character. He’s got that great coat that makes him look like a pirate (which he is). In contrast to Mace, he is has great lines that make him seem on the edge, but specifically trying to maintain a balance. Just a normal guy trying to make it in a universe at war. I think he was a my favorite part of this season. He was a good reoccurring character with great voicework. I hope we see more of him next season. I was going to give this episode a 4/5 until i realized that something doesn’t quite fit right with the canon of the universe. Aurra crashes Slave I in a fiery death ball that the viewer see from a distance. This indicated to me that the ship was destoryed and Aurra dead. However, wookiepedia states that Slave I was “heavily damaged.” This of course fits with the rest of the Canon because Boba Fett pilots Slave I in Empire Strikes Back. If it was “heavily damaged,” then this is a poor depiction of what happened for a couple of reasons: 1) they should have shown the ship being heavily damaged, not a giant fireball, so that it is clear what happened. 2) Does Boba return YEARS later to get his ship? Seems unlikely, but he was being escorted away last we saw and, although i don’t know the full legal code of the Republic, I assume he is going to jail. 3) What about Aurra? Villain or not, if the ship is only “heavily damaged” she could still be alive, but who exactly is going to help her? Bossk? He is going to jail with Boba for kidnapping I would assume. That leaves Hondo who didn’t seem particularly pleased to see her on Florrum since she’s his ex anyway. This shoddy meshing with the canon has caused me to reconsider my initial assessment. Despite the good action sequences, this story leaves me a little confused which it shouldn’t. Ideally, a season finale should leave you waiting for the next season eagerly. I still am, but now I’m gonna have to go a lot of reading on wookiepedia. 3.5/5 lightsabers. Average 3.5/5 for the season (but with it leaning toward 4 because there were a lot I really enjoyed like the Zillo Beast and 7 Samurai episodes).

Who my father was matters less than my memory of him.

The Jedi are aboard the Venator Class Republic Cruiser Endurance about to meet up with another ship. They are going to give some young clone cadets lessons in the “field.” A young Boba Fett (we assume because of his similarity to the Boba of ep. 2, voiced by Daniel Logan who portrayed him in the movies), is talking to his clone brethren who immediately recognize him as an outisider and call him “soft,” because he claims he wasn’t there on other missions because of a broken arm.

The cadets, other than Boba who calls himself “Lucky,” idealize the troopers. One says, “The only difference between us and them is experience. It’s not like they’re Jedi.” This is of course the last thing pubescent Boba wants to hear. However, all of the cadets are visibly quaking with excitement as Mace Windu and Anakin talk to them about activities aboard the ship. Unfortunately, a request from the bridge cuts their instruction under Masters Windu and Skywalker short. As they walk off Mace attempts to give Anakin a lesson of his own, but Anakin impudently states, “It’s our job to instruct and inspire…When I show off it is instructive… and inspiring” – Anakin

While the Jedi are unavailable, the cadets have target practice with “spare droid parts.” Essentially, the activity is skeet shooting in space. The first few young clones fail to destroy the disks, but the petulant young Boba manages to hit the target in response to a clone commenting that “experience” is what counts. Boba shows of his experience again byt shooting three discs in a tri-formation. As the cadets leave, the trooper comments “We’ll have to keep an eye on that one,” ominously.

Boba uses wristcommunicator to contact his partners. They instruct him to plant the device in Windu’s quarters. On his way, he meets a pair of trooper who believe he’s lost. After teasing him a bit, they direct him to Windu’s quarters. Boba  makes it the rest of the way unnoticed and plants a device with a sensor near the door. As Boba leaves, he runs into Windu. When Windu arrives at his quarters, a trooper stops him and tells him that he needs to report to the bridge immediately. Although Mace is frustrated by this, he leaves and hands the trooper something to put his in quarters. When the trooper’s boot passes in front of the sensors, a bomb explodes, sending him flying to the other side of the corridor. Mace resuces him and pulls him beyond the blast door, but the measure is futile because the trooper has been killed.

Anakin and Mace determine that the bombing was no accident and was targeted for Windu’s quarters because navigation was only slightly damaged. Boba contacts “Watcher” via his communicator and says that the attempt failed. His partner orders him to blow the core, but Boba resists because it will harm the troops. His partner insists that it is the only way and reluctantly Boba makes his way towards the core. A trooper is guarding the core and tells Boba that he must go to a safe area but needs another trooper to escort him. While he is contacting another trooper, Boba asks to examine his gun and attacks the distracted trooper, hitting him over the head. He has the trooper cornered and raises the blaster toward him. The trooper pleads, “Don’t shoot! We’re brothers!”  But, Boba responds, “You’re not my brother.”

Boba uses the blaster to blow the core, causing the ship to rock and the back to explode. The ship is damaged beyond saving. The troopers tell the cadets that it is a drill and to head to the escape pods. Boba manages to catch up with the cadets in time and climbs aboard one of the pods. As they’re launching, Boba flips a switch, causing the pod to malfunction and miss the rendezvous point.

Aboard the Endurance, the Admiral refuses to abandon ship. Anakin and Mace receive word that one of the pods has missed the rendezvous point and discern that the saboteur must be aboard that pod. Meanwhile, in the escape pod, the cadets begin to argue because of the dire situation they are in, no food, no locator beacon, no fuel, and no communication. Suddently, Bounty Hunters (one of which was Bossk) show up at the pod, to rescue Boba. Although eh doesn’t want to leave the cadets to die, the bounty hunters threaten to jettison the clones into space if he doesn’t come with them. As he exits the pod, the clones call him “traitor.”

Boba leaves, hoping that he will still get his revenge; Aura promises that he will get it. Anakin finds the missing cadets just as Boba leaves. The clones says he’s nothing like them, but one hopes that he is because that will mean that Boba will change his mind and come back.

Thus concludes the much-anticipated episode with young Boba Fett. Boba will of course return tomorrow in the season finale, attempting again to kill Mace Windu. I liked this episode because there were some clear tensions in Boba’s mind with leaving the cadets and killing the troopers. He didn’t want to harm anyone but Mace. He has a clearly defined sense of morality. I also enjoyed seeing more the lifecycle of clones. Their deep sense of brotherhood is instilled before they become official troopers in the Army. I was surprised by the way they idolized the Jedi. Although the troopers clearly respect the Jedi, they always seemed somewhat equal to me. Additionally, idolatry seems out of character for the programmed individuals the clones are supposed to be (though they show a surprising degree of diversity, remember the farmer episode?). Overall, I think this was a 4/5. I look forward to the explode-y conclusion tonight.

The Most Dangerous Beast is the beast within.

Chancellor Palpatine is supposed to be a dark lord of the Sith in hiding who is masterful at planning his takeover and can foresee the formation of his Empire. However, he occasionally let’s all this power go to his head. Particularly by letting a godzilla-sized monster onto the city planet of Coruscant. Even without the Force I can tell you this is a bad idea. This episode teaches us two things: 1) Nature always gets mad when you try to rob its special adaptations/resources (in this case, the Zillo Beast’s heavy armor plating, think Avatar or Pocahontas or anything made by Miyazaki) 2) don’t trust creepy looking old men (I’m looking at you, Mace i-got-my-fucking-arm-chopped-off-by-an-old-dude-bc-i-wasn’t-paying-attention-and-then-died Windu, who is also a proponent of the Save the Zillo Beast Campaign – that’s twice you let the old creepy guy kick your purple lightsaber wielding ass.)

This episode picks up with the doctor who invented the bomb that brought the Zillo Beast to the surface studying its scales. She tells Palpatine that she can’t study the scales well enough to synthesize them without hurting the Zillo Beast. Palpatine suggests killing it because its not sentient (or so he thinks). The doctor protests but Palpatine threatens to replace her with someone who will. She reluctantly agrees to do it and decides the best way is to synthesize a toxin from the fuel on Malastare.

Unfortunately the doctor does not make enough fuel, and the Zillo Beast escapes. The clones positioned outside of the lab do nothing but annoy the beast with their laser-fire. Meanwhile, the Jedi, Palpatine, and Senator Amidala are having a conference in the Chancellor’s office. He has told them that he plans to kill the Zillo Beast and synthesize its scales to create better armor. Padme is upset because none of this has come before the senate. Palpatine defends his actions by saying that some things must be kept secret during a time of war. Anakin, playing Palpatine’s lap dog, agrees with him, but tries to stay on the fence by saying that he sees both sides. Padme is disappointed in Anakin (but she already knows he loves dictatorships because they had that conversation in Ep. 2 so she really shouldn’t be surprised).

The Zillo Beast, whom Palpatine believes to be non-sentient, heads straight for Palpatine’s office in the senate building that has a great big window perfect for smashing through. Palpatine, Padme, Anakin, R2D2 and C3PO escape in Palpatine’s shuttle. Unfortunately, the Zillo Beast grabs the shuttle. Meanwhile, Yoda, Mace, and Obi-Wan plot to fly in and distract the Zillo Beast. Anakin cuts the shuttle in half, sending them all plummeting toward the slanted roof of a building. Anakin, Padme, C3Po and R2D2 are ejected from the front half of the shuttle as it slides down the roof. Mace and Obi-Wan rescue Palpatine but Force-grabbing the front half of the shuttle. However, despite the Jedi and clones annoying the Zillo Beast with laser-fire, it notices that Palpatine has escaped. It attempts to catch him but he is pushed out of the way by his guard. Anakin saves Padme by using the Force to pull her up from the ledge of the roof. Side note: Palpatine has a lot of fucking restraint. His life was in danger yet he never used the Force to help himself, though, arguably, he could’ve used the Force to convince the clone to sacrafice his life for him.

The doctor flies in with more poison made from Malastare’s fuel, killing the beast. HOWEVER, because Palpatine failed to realize how close he was to destroying Coruscant or at least killing many citizens and clone troopers, he decides the best idea is to clone the Zillo Beast. Palpatine has some serious lust for power. My guess is, if they bring the Zillo Beast back, he will have been cloned by the Kaminoans and be somewhat tame like the clones of Jango Fett. I suppose it will be his first pre-death star “super weapon.” I give this episode 4/5 lightsabers. It was really good, and i was genuinely worried at some points. Also, i liked that they included the sentiency of the Zillo Beast as a major point in the story. This speaks to efforts at environmentalism and respecting animals, after all, this is at heart a children’s show and it’s good for them to learn something. I’m concerned that they will just drop this story line since next week’s episode has to do with Boba Fett, but, again, it does take time to clone something. Also, I suspect the “beat within” mentioned in the quote at the beginning is Palpatine’s lust for power and his inability to control it (power corrupts…).

It turns out, I care.  The show has come far enough to where I do actually care what happens to the rest of the cast despite the enormous weight this secondary character just assumed.  And is Simon being built up to be the Bad Wolf of this season?  Hard to tell.  He just killed the only person I’d call a villain thus far next to D. Gibbons, who in my mind is still just a name and barely someone tangible.

“Blowback’s” main focus is Aaron and Tracy.  We start off 15 years ago when Aaron is in prison for a bar fight gone wrong.  Tracy is a little girl and visiting her dad and it’s very touching but then a guard ruins it by saying lascivious things about Tracy and Aaron beats the snot out of him.  Back in the present, Aaron tries to talk her out of another drinking binge at a bar.  He wants to find the connection to her and this mission that almost killed her and Jericho.  Another flashback to two years ago when a couple of uniforms come to Aaron’s house to tell him Tracy is dead.  In the present again, they two talk about how Jericho’s head man and her CO were killed in a copter crash.  Aaron now has a name, James Erskin.  Later, Tracy’s buddy Mike shows up at Aaron’s work and tells him about someone calling him but not talking.  It was his birthday and he knew it had to be Tracy.  They’re both under the guise that the other thinks she’s dead, but Aaron blows that by saying she’s at his house.  Later, Aaron comes home to find she’s not there.  He suspects Mike and after tricking him into getting a bite to eat, he takes him to a junkyard and beats up him to get information.  Aaron then takes the fight to James Erskin, a wealthy and very alive man living in a posh neighborhood.  Aaron pretends to be there to fix the power (that he cut) and then confronts James about his daughter.  James pretends to not have any information but then makes another call later to another conspirator but it’s short lived as we see Mark’s stripped and beaten body hanging (alive) in their home.  Aaron calls Mark to say goodbye.  He has information that they’re taking Tracy to Kandahar.

Mark and Lloyd work through some of their differences as well.  Mark fesses up to being drunk in his flashforward and Lloyd completely recounts his flashforward.  The two compare notes on the phone call and after they get past the suspicion and jealousy of their locations and activities, they figure out that in that time, they are working together on the QED, which they find out must be THE QED and not a regular QED.  It might be a Quantum Experience Detector or something, but it references a formula Lloyd has written in lipstick on a mirror.  Even more revealing is that Lloyd knows D. Gibbons.  It’s apparently an alias for a man named Dyson Frost, a contemporary of Lloyd’s who stole all his ideas.  Later, Agent Vogel admits that Mark is very important and that the whole investigation is based on his vision and it all centers around Somalia.  So they’re going to go, but Mark stays behind, and Simon goes.

Zoey and Demitri are starting to come clean about what they saw.  In fact, this episode was one of those that had a lot of people actually admitting what they saw instead of hiding it.  I don’t know what the change was or when it happened, but it’s likely that after months of pent up emotions, it was just too much stress to be worried about it.  Plus, as we have seen, things can change.  Dem has even agreed to destroy the gun that was implicated in his death.  But things get worse for them when Zoey serves Director Wedeck papers under the freedom of information act.  She’s representing Alda Herzog (the blonde terrorist from the beggining) as a way to help keep Demetri alive.  It’s a stretch, really.  She must have information so Zoey is going Zealot and really pissing off Dem in the process.  They seem to come together in the end after Zoey breaks down saying she wants things to change so that she’s not going to his funeral but their wedding.  Dem goes down to evidence to retrieve his gun so it can be destroyed, but the gun is not there.

Soooomalia!  Since seeing the towers, the answers have all lived in that corrupt, impoverished African nation.  Despite Director Wedeck’s insistence that it’s nearly impossible to get there given the political climate, Agent Vogel is all set to take an away team to check out the apparent source of the black outs while the saucer section stays behind to work out the likelihood of another.

Honestly, the diverging story lines bugged me.  Normally I can appreciate an ensemble cast breaking apart and coming back together but it just didn’t work this time.  ”Revelation Zero” was such a step forward that this just felt like it might have been run out of sequence.  There was absolutely no mention from Simon or Janis about Flasso or Simon’s trip to Canada and to me that seemed fairly important.  I really hope we go back to more of that and soon.

Two and a half broken clocks.

Choose what is right, not what is easy.

This episode takes place on Malastare. It is meant as an interpretation of the Godzilla story. The Republic can’t afford to lose Malastare to the Separatists because the planet core contains a lot of fuel necessary for operating their warships. They develop an electron-proton bomb that will only harm the Separatist droids and vehicles, not clones or organic creatures.

The bomb sends out a huge wave and in the process, creates a large crater. Some Republic tanks fell into a crater, so a rescue party is send after them. When the rescue party doesn’t return, Mace and a group of clones are sent down to investigate. When they arrive down there, a clone trooper warns them that it’s not safe (the Republic seems to keep ending up in dark, dangerous holes.)

Above ground, the Malastare council members are gathering to sign a treaty so the Republic can use their resources. Meanwhile, Mace and the clones discover they are walking on the back of a large creature. Anakin flies in to distract it while they escape, but his ship is damaged when the creature strikes it. He crash-lands into the side of the crater and artoo flies him out of immediate danger. Although Anakin makes an attempt to slice through the creature with his lightsaber, his blow is ineffective because its scales are impenetrable.  Anakin runs up its back and jumps on artoo who carries him to the surface.

The Dugs, inhabitants of Malastare who are the same species as Sebulba, tell the Republic leaders that the creature is a legendary beast known as the Zillo Beast. It used to kill their ancestors, until they began harvesting fuel from the planet, but it had always been said that one survived.

A debate begins between the Dugs and the Republic over whether the Zillo Beast is a unique life form or a dangerous bloodthirsty monster. The Dugs refuse to sign the treaty unless the Republic helps them destroy the Zillo Beast because they released it. Anakin points out that the Dugs told them it was ok to drop the bomb. The Dug leader retorts that it was all for the benefit of the new Republic anyway. Although Mace is committed to the preservation of the Zillo Beast, Anakin questions whether one creature is worth losing the resources they need.

In a conference with Palpatine over hologram, Mace Windu says that he wants to bring the Zillo Beast to the outer rim, but Palpatine says that it must be destroyed because they can’t alienate the Dugs. Then, the scientist who built the bomb suggests that they study it because it impenetrable scales. Anakin suggests that they pretend to kill it so they can get the treaty signed and save the beast. Palpatine of course adores this idea.

The Jedi and clones drive their tanks to the crater to assist the dugs in “killing the beast.” The Dugs pour fuel into the crater but this only makes the beast angry and causes it to leave the crater. Mace threatens the leader of the Dugs, telling him that shooting it as it climbs up the wall will only make it angrier when it escapes. Then, Mace pulls out his lightsaber and demands that they stop, but the Dug leader retorts, “We are innocent life forms, too. Are we not?” Before Mace can wrestle with his conscience, the beast emerges from the crater.

The clones fire stun rays from the tanks, but the Zillo beast begins to pick up the tanks one by one and toss them away. The stun rays appear to be not working, but suddenly the creature wobbles and falls down.  Believing the ZIllo Beast is dead, the Dugs sign the treaty. In a sudden [stupid] move, Palpatine says that the Zillo Beast will be taken to Coruscant. Mace ominously predicts that it will lead to destruction.

I’m excited to see how much of Coruscant this beast destroys. Other than getting me excited for the followup episode, this is episode was pretty middle of the road. We saw the Jedi come into conflict with the native of inhabitants of  planet and instead of repecting their wishes because they would result in killing, they opt to lie and deceive them (which I kind of hope comes back to bite them in the ass when the Zillo Beast rampages in Coruscant). So, it’s deception vs. murder. This episode could be expanded into a much larger dialogue but it wasn’t. Overall, i give it a 3.5/5. But, hopefully the next episode will garner a 4 or even 5. :)

Dedicated to Akira Kurosawa

Courage makes heroes but trust builds friendship.

This episode brings up the planets that are left to survive on their own while the Jedi and clones fight (and lose). The Republic has lost contact with Medical station orbiting Felucia. Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka are sent to investigate, but when they reach the planetary system, they can’t find the station on the scanner. Vulture droids attack them and chase them down to the surface, where they eject from the T-6 “Jedi” Shuttle. In a strange, Lucasian effect, when they eject, an inflatable protective shield surrounds their seats, making them resemble giant yellow bouncy balls.

Anakin and Obi-Wan get into one of their regular fights over leadership. In which, Anakin asks, “Why do you even ask for my opinion? You never do things my way.” Interrupting their argument, Ahsoka points out the smoke on the horizon that indicates people probably live near by. When they get to the settlement, they see tools lying about, but no farmers. Anankin opens the barn and finds a large ship. Ahsoka and Anakin discover some farmers hiding in a house, but bounty hunters are guarding them.

The leader of the farmers explains that pirates are controlling. And, them unless they give them a portion of the crop, their houses will be burned with them in them.  The Jedi disapprove of the presence of bounty hunters, but the farmers say they charge a more reasonable rate than the pirates. The farmers ask the Jedi to help the bounty hunters, lead by Sugi a female Zabrak (same species as Darth Maul), defend them. But, Obi-Wan says that they couldn’t help even if they wanted to because they need to report the missing medical station. If they don’t, the Separatists will know they are there and come to the planet to find them. The Separatists are worse than pirates.

Taking that cue, the pirates arrive. Capt. Hondo tries to bribe the bounty hunters but they refuse because they have dignity and don’t break deals. Then, Obi-Wan offers to pay him double what the crops are worth if they bring them to the nearest Republic outpost. After the pirates leave, they plan their defenses. Anakin believes the bounty hunters alone can’t do it. But, Obi-Wan refuses to budge, saying they can’t get involved. The bounty hunters criticize the Jedi for being peacekeepers that can’t keep peace. Anakin suggests that instead of taking an active defensive role, they train the villagers.

Then, we see a lot of Anakin playing around with a big stick.

Obi-Wan is still wary about trusting the bounty hunters and criticizes their strategy of hiding the crops and the villagers in the same place, but Sugi claims it is a defensive maneuver. Ahsoka discovers that Seripas, one of the bounty hunters, is not a giant robot, but a small alien in a robotic suit. (This sets up for a nice moral lesson). One of the farmers doubts his skill and gives up training but the rest are moved by Obi-Wan’s speech to continue training.

Sugi spots a pirate scout on the ridge. She sends a bounty hunter with a blaster-proof hat in pursuit (the style of the hat fits well with the Seven Samurai theme). When the scout fails to show up, Hondo decides to move on the village. When he arrives, he says, “Speak softly and drive a big tank.” Everyone prepares for battle. Embo jumps on a speeder and takes down a pirate while being pursued by more pirates on speeders. The farmers ride domestic livestock to confront the pirates on speeders.

The small alien in the robot suit knocks over plants that the pirates on speeders run into (reminiscent of Endor). When his suit is damaged, he jumps out of it and jumps on the pirate. Then, Capt. Hondo reappears with his tank and shouts, “Die Jedi Scum!”  He injures Embo. Anakin engages Hondo in a duel. More pirates on speeders appear and the farmer who left training kills one. A monkey interferes with Anakin and Hondo’s duel. The monkey aims the tank at Anakin’s back, but he jumps down before he can get shot.

However, Hondo sees his losses and declares the planet is “no longer profitable.” The farmers ever committed to their village and crops say that they must harvest, till, and rebuild. When they thank the Jedi and the bounty hunters, Obi-Wan points out that they saved their own village. Then, the bounty hunters offer to give them a ride back to Republic space.

I enjoyed this episode. It was fun to see a Star Wars interpretation of the Seven Samurai. The Jedi and the bounty hunters make an unlikely but completely entertaining team against the pirates.  Alluding to the quote at the start of the episode that ends “trust builds friendship.” I give this episode 4/5 lightsabers for its unexpectedness and rad battle scene.

Cristophsis is blockaded with Senator Bail Organa on the planet’s surface. Anakin is leading the attack, but it’s going rather badly.

We are now introduced to a new Separatist admiral who is a Harch, an arachnid species of alien. The Republic forces do not know his identity either.  Anakin is engaging the enemy, even though Obi-Wan gave him a direct order no to (because he’s Anakin). After a transport is destroyed, the rest fall behind Obi-Wan’s position behind the moon, for protection. The Spider Alien’s flagship, the Drednaught Invincible, has to recharge its canon.

Luckily, Obi-Wan has brought a new toy an invisible pointy ship with stealth capabilities! Obi-Wan orders Anakin to run a mercy mission down the the planet. But, Anakin, as usual, wants to fight. Meanwhile, Admiral Yularen discovers that the commander is Admiral Trench, a ruthless commander who is thought to have been vaporized at another battle. However, Adm. Yularen recognized his his tactics and symbol on the Invincible.

Unsure of what the Republic forces are planning, Admiral Trench has decided to send Hyena droids to the surface to attack Sen. Organa and draw the Republic forces out from behind the moon. Unfortunately, he elects to send them through the area of space that Anakin and crew are traveling through in the stealth ship. They mistakenly think they were detected, so they power down and drift, avoiding collision with the Hyena droids.

Obi-Wan messages saying they’re going to attack after Trenchs’ robots have been deployed. Anakin disagrees with Obi-Wan’s plan and thinks the stealth ship should begin the attack. A clone troop on the ship comments, “When you work for gen. Skywalker, You’re always on the offensive.” They uncloak and fire a volley of torpedoes, but they are ineffective. The Invincible fires torpedoes in return, so Anakin shoots off a few flares before cloaking. The flares absorb the torpedoes attack. Then, Trench fires a barrage of laser blasts. But, Anakin dodges them. Trench realizes that a clone must not be commanding the ship and opens a channel of communication. He says that they should retreat because he’s seen that kind of ship before. After discussing the comment with Obi-Wan, Anakin comes to the conclusion that it was a larger ship and he may have tracked it with the ship’s magnetic signature.

Sure enough, Anakin’s hunch is correct. Using the ship’s magnetic signature, Trench fires another volley of torpedoes at it. Anakin turns off cloaking device and reverts power to the engines. As they charge toward the Invincible, Trench commands the droids to turn on the shields, but they have not finished recharging since they were turned off to fire the torpedoes. Anakin grazes the top of Trench’s ship, causing the torpedoes to hit him instead.

After the successful attack, they complete the delivery to the planet. Admiral Yularen admits to Anakin that he was surprised by the reckless nature of tactics, but he can’t disagree with results. Yularen also comments that he has heard Palpatine praise Anakin’s skills and tactics.

As is his nature, Anakin was reckless and did not heed the orders Obi-Wan gave him. Regardless of whether Obi-Wan’s plan would’ve worked, this is another sign of his drift to the dark side. His military tactics and flying abilities exhibited in this episode show his already forming leadership abilities that he’ll use as Darth Vader. Yularen also comments on Palpatine’s favoritism towards Anakin which we all know is not a good thing. There was an interesting side story in this episode about a newbie clone trooper becoming a “real” clone trooper by completing this mission. Despite all being physically identical, the clones each have their own personalities and seem to value experience in the battlefield, despite homogenized childhood and education. This episode seemed fairly straightforward. I expected more from the ship and was confused why they could see while being cloaked because I was under the impression that cloaking blinded the ship being cloaked. On Twitter, Admiral Trench had been compared to Admiral Thrawn, but he didn’t seem nearly as capable to me and the resemblance ended at red eyes. I give this episode 3.5/5 lightsabers.

“Searching for truth is easy. Accepting the truth is hard.”

WAR! The clone army is suffering heavy losses. This creates controversy in the Senate because Kamino wants to increase troop production, but other senators, like Padme, want to cut military spending. Public Opinion for the decrease in military funding is falling, but the senators hope that Padme’s speech will inspire confidence in the cause. Padme’s Uncle Ono is a Rodian senator with a bad past, but is trying to redeem himself by helping Padme rally votes her anti-war bill.

In her speech, Padme asserts that financial costs will bankrupt and cripple the republic. A decrease in military spending will promote diplomacy, the reason the Republic exists in the first place. However, not all senators were pleased by Padme’s speech. Sen. Deechi calls her unpatriotic. Later, while a celebrating Padme’s speech, Sen. Burtoni from Kamino calls them “Separatists” and claims democracy has failed the Republic. Ono criticizes Burtoni, saying the Kaminoans weaseled their way into the senate with the production of clones.  Suddenly, Ono is gasping for breath. Although they try to help him, he dies almost instantly.

Palpatine summons Padme and Lolo, Ono’s Rodian assistant, to his chambers. Leutinent Devo (possibly the most horribly voiced and designed character. ever. He sounds like a bad private investigator) suggests that Ono was murdered because of resurfacing secrets, but Padme thinks it may be about the resolution they were trying to pass. In another note, wouldn’t this be an investigation for the Jedi?

In meeting with Lolo, Padme, Bail Organa, and unidentified woman (possibly Mon Mothma), Padme suggests delaying the vote because nobody will be concentrating on it because of the controversy surrounding the murder. She also suggests that they should quietly investigate it themselves. Sen. Organa is chosen to accompany her. Their first subject is Sen. Deechi. Senators Deechi and Burtoni insist that they did not kill Ono because his speeches provided a source of income for their own campaigns. Then, Deechi reveals that he had someone following Ono and that Ono had a secret meeting at the docks the night before he was killed.

Sen. Organa thinks they’re out of their element wandering around the docks at night, in response Padme holds up a blaster. In the background, we see someone start up a machine. Then, the person attempts  to drop a large crate on them. When this fails, blaster shots fly. Padme pursues the attacker, but she and Sen. Organa collide when coming around a corner. Lt. Devo shows up with police droids and chastises Padme for interfering with his investigation. Padme realizes that Sen. Deechi may have sent them there on purpose and set them up.

Padme and Sen. Organa return to the senate building and find Sen. Deechi dead! Lt. Devo suggests putting them all under security, but Lolo leaves. Then, she returns claiming that Sen. Burtoni attacked her. They discover Burtoni in the hallway as Lolo claimed but Burtoni says she passed out and woke up there. Then, she calls Ono harmless and Sen. Deechi an ally, claiming she has no reason to kill either of them. However, Lt. Devo reveals that the poison used on Ono only effects Rodians and is made by Kaminoans.

Since Lolo is rodian too, initially suspicion is removed from her. Suddenly, Padme realizes Lolo didn’t drink anything when Ono drank the poisoned drink. Lolo takes Padme hostage. She justifies killing Ono because he betrayed the Rodians and brought war to her planet.  While she’s doing the villain reveal, Padme knocks her gun away and punches Lolo in the face. Police droids behind the door they backed into arrest Lolo.

Unfortunately, Padme’s resolution did not pass in the senate and clone troop manufacture shall proceed as scheduled. Palpatine of course claims he “doesn’t” support it and that democracy must stand, but the victory of the clone army is the only thing that can lead to peace.

With this episode, Clone Wars stepped into the realm of political cartoon. The conflict mimics conflict over the war in Iraq right now. I was confused as to the lack of Jedi, since they should be investigating murders in the senate. I was also surprised that Padme didn’t call Anakin for help when she decided to pursue the investigation on her own. I somewhat enjoyed this episode, but it seemed more like a filler. However, I found Ono’s comment about the Kaminoans interesting. It was a valid point. This episode was riddled with notes like that about Galactic politics but you kind of had to piece them out. Overall, I think maybe this would’ve been too political for a kid watching the show, especially since it was a lot of dialoguing and senate finessing. I give it 3.5/5 lightsabers. Not too shabby, but what about our favorite Jedi?