Episode: The Clone Wars 3.08 – “Evil Plans”
Original Air Date: November 5, 2010
What could bounty hunter Cad Bane be planning with Jabba the Hutt?
The opening narration shows us that one of the drawbacks of the Jedis’ concern over the war is that crime is up in the Republic. As Padme plans a dinner party to win over a key vote in the Senate, Bane kidnaps R2-D2 and C-3PO for information.
During the first scene, it’s nice to see something resembling a normal home life for Anakin and Padme. The latter is fretting about getting everything ready and making sure it’s perfect as she is trying to win over the vote of Senator Aang, the chairman of the military appropriations committee. Of course, something goes wrong when it seems R2 forgot to get a particular fruit as a topping for the dessert, and Anakin sends party planner 3PO and R2 together on a shopping trip for the final ingredient.
However, this appears to be exactly what Cad Bane was hoping for, and after the droids complete their task, Bane uses a droid minion to separate the two. While R2 is convinced to go to a droid spa, 3PO is kidnapped by a couple of assassin droids. 3PO, however, is not able to produce the information that Bane wants, and so the bounty hunter’s droids are sent back out to collect R2.
A chase ensues between the assassin droids and R2, but ends with our favorite droid being captured and brought back to Bane for interrogation. Subjecting R2 to a download process that resembles the clock tower scene from Back to the Future, Bane gets what he’s after: the blueprints for the Republic Senate. Leaving no trace, he wipes the droids’ memory and dumps them back onto the street to complete their original task.
While 3PO and R2 return to the party with the fruit and everything goes off without a hitch, Bane brings the blueprints to Jabba. A job seemingly completed, Jabba halts Bane and says he requires his services for a bit longer. Jabba then holds a holo-meeting with the heads of the other Hutt families, while Bane slyly holds onto another 3PO unit to translate the conversation for him.
From this, we learn that Ziro the Hutt has some information that is apparently dangerous to all the families, and this conversation is one that is deciding the imprisoned Hutt’s fate. The scene closes with Bane agreeing to break Ziro out of prison “for the right price.”
This was a decent episode, but not as much humor as I would expect from one that focuses mostly on R2-D2 and C-3PO. These guys are the Abbott & Costello of sci-fi, but here they don’t bicker nearly as much as they do in the films. I suppose one could blame that on the fact that they have so little interaction in the series. R2 is usually off with Anakin, while 3PO stays with Padme.
Spoiler warning! Stop here if you don’t want to know anything about upcoming plot details, but what really got me excited was the preview for next week’s episode, as the Hutts try to get Ziro under their “protection” (something I’m sure will resemble a mafia execution) and Obi-Wan tries to get him back with a little help from… QUINLAN VOS! That’s right, folks, everyone’s favorite undercover Jedi is going to be kicking some ass next week. I only hope they got Doug Wangler (the professional model for Vos) to voice the character.
Tune in next week, and we’ll see if there’s some serious fighting going on!
Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars
About the Author
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has this to say about John Rabon:
John got started on the path to geekdom thanks to his brother's collection of comic books and Star Wars toys but was cemented into the geek class forever when LeVar Burton took Reading Rainbow viewers on a backstage tour of Star Trek: The Next Generation. A love of Monty Python soon followed, and it wasn't long before he was starting to collect his own comics. The rest, as they say, is history. But really, who are they to say something?
Since discovering the BBC some years ago, John has become an obsessive Anglophile. In fact, he even likes the food they serve over there! As such, some of his favourite programmes include: Doctor Who, Primeval, Coupling, QI, The Mighty Boosh, The IT Crowd, and Shaun the Sheep.
Upon choosing a university, John enrolled in the University of South Carolina, which was nice enough to give him a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a Master's in Teaching. Feeling that he hadn't been put through enough academic torment with student teaching, John decided to enroll in law school at Campbell University.
Hobbies, when he can find time for them, include: writing, video games, reading, and wasting time in the pub.