Broken Frontier

You want gritty? The latest episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars has your gritty. Titled “Landing at Point Rain,” this adventure takes Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano and the lesser known (but instantly recognizable) Ki-Adi-Mundi to the planet Geonosis, where they must stage an assault on Separatist leader Poggle the Lesser’s droid factory. While fans have already witnessed the initial Battle of Geonosis—where the Clone Wars began in Attack of the Clones—the Republic’s invasion of the planet is extremely entertaining,  with some of the most intense action moments in recent television history.

After a brief introduction to set the stage, this episode is essentially one giant fight sequence, pitting the clone troopers and their Jedi generals against the insectoid Geonosians (derisively referred to as “bugs”) and their legions of battle droids. Given the simplicity of the premise, the creative team is afforded a great deal of breathing room when it comes to the variety of action we get to see. There are aerial skirmishes between Republic gunships and swarms of enemy fighters. At one point, Anakin and Captain Rex amusingly find stylish ways around destroyer droids’ built-in shield generators. We even get to witness a team of clones lay waste to attacking Geonosians using flamethrowers (with some nasty results). We’ve seen plenty of action in The Clone Wars thus far, but the visual flair and overall down-in-the-trenches feel of “Landing at Point Rain” make this episode stand out immediately.

In addition to the constant barrage of action sequences, writer Brian Larsen, supervising writer Drew Z. Greenberg and director Brian Kalin O’Connell ably inject some smaller character moments into the narrative. Of particular note is the banter between Anakin and Ahsoka. Remember their cringe-inducing exchanges in the Clone Wars movie? Supervising director Dave Filoni and his team have made tremendous strides in making this student-teacher relationship thoroughly enjoyable since then. Anakin and Ahsoka have turned killing droids into a competition, playfully poking fun at one another to ease tension on the battlefield. When the two are comparing their “scores” at the end of the episode, they learn that Ki-Adi-Muni has also been tallying his kill count, and has beaten them both. Moments like these peppered throughout this and other recent episodes successfully humanize the Jedi, who are deviating more and more from their stoic, monastic ways  as the Clone Wars rage on—for better or for worse.

Early on in this episode, Ki-Adi-Mundi tells Admiral Yularen, “There is no such thing as luck,” a reference to one of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s most famous lines from A New Hope. It’s not unusual for this series to include subtle nods to the live-action films, but when those allusions are as glaring as this one, they become a bit distracting. The show’s overall high quality more than quenches our thirst for Star Wars fan service. We’re already sold. Forcing connections to the films this directly through ancillary dialogue is unnecessary at this point.